Inflammation and Infection

Hello,

I was 15 weeks pregnant. My water broke just suddenly and I started to bleed 10 or 12 hours later and delivered the fetus, followed by d&c. My cervix was closed when my water broke and when we got to the hospital, there was no heartbeat. I also need to mention that I lost too much blood and I had blood transfusion. Now my doctor thinks that it might be inflammation or infection that caused this. My culture came back negative in 11 weeks of my pregnancy but I have no idea or info about inflammation. I have an appointment next week and also wanted to get some advise or answers from you.

Thank you so much

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
I'm sorry to hear about your loss!  I think it is harder when one is further along.  MOST second trimester losses are the result of chromosomal problems -- the baby has either too many or too few.  It is sometimes possible to do a chromosome analysis on the placenta.  It is standard procedure to send the placenta to pathology for analysis which should show whether there was a significant infection.  Sometimes it is even possible to culture the placenta if infection is suspected.
In your case, it does NOT sound like there is a problem with your cervix -- this will be important for future pregnancies, so be sure to clarify this with your doctors.
Hope this helps!
Dr B