As a rule it is extremely difficult to tell whether a woman is dealing with miscarriage or not. Usually a miscarriage does not happen as one single event, it usually occurs as a whole chain of events, which may last up to several days. However, it should be pointed out, that one woman’s physical experience of a miscarriage can be quite different from another woman’s experience.

Definite Symptoms of a Miscarriage
In case if a woman is having a miscarriage, and if the pregnancy test already showed positive result, then a woman usually has the following symptoms:
Heavy bleeding, that usually soaks a pad in less than a few hours;
Strong cramps, that make a woman double over or breathe in a huffy way. As a rule bleeding follows soon after these cramps begin;
Passage of tissue that resembles large and thick clots of blood on the earliest weeks up to pinkish or grayish material. This can happen either with or without pain or cramps.

In case if a woman experiences just a little bit of bleeding, which occurs without any cramping, this may be not be dangerous, however, it is still necessary to call a doctor. When there are small darting cramps, even when they hurt, it is also okay, because most usually they are just a signal that the body is stretching and pulling with the aim of accommodating the growing and developing baby. If a woman experiences this, she should simply lie down, and then the cramps will usually go away within about one hour period.

What a Woman Should Do
In case if any of the above mentioned definite miscarriage symptoms occur during the doctor’s regular working hours, then the woman is to call her regular doctor first. And it is the gynecologist or obstetrician, who is to give her instructions. However, if it is a night or weekend, the first thing a woman should do is to dial her regular doctor’s after – hours telephone number. This will most likely be either on their answering machine or with their answering service. The doctor or the nurse on call, who calls you back, will help you decide whether a woman needs to have immediate attention or it is not such necessary. And, it is important to remember, that there is no need to feel like they are bothered needlessly, because this is quite a natural and expected part of any OB practice. Therefore, in case if it is impossible to get through, and a woman is afraid, then she is to go to an emergency room right away.

Any woman, who experiences any of definite signs of a miscarriage, should be ready for some possibly insensitive treatment. There are hospitals, which are well equipped and they are ready to handle this situation, ad they do a good job, however, it is not a seldom situation, when a woman is left alone in a room, where she may spend hours, or she may be told to sit on a toilet and catch tissue, or it is also possible that a woman would simply be sent home, because “there is nothing anyone can do about her situation”. Anyway, it may be worth the trip, if the doctors draw the woman’s blood for an hCG test or conduct an ultrasound investigation.

If the symptoms of a miscarriage occur during the weekend, then there is no high risk in waiting until Monday, if a woman is in her first pregnancy trimester, simply because there does not exist any magic way to stop an early miscarriage at the hospital. However, if a woman’s pregnancy term is more than 12 complete weeks, and she finds herself being in labor, then she is to take quick actions to see if the labor is possible to stop or not. In case if a woman is passing tissue in home conditions, and if it is her first miscarriage, then there is no need to catch the tissue and take in back in, therefore, if a woman has a strong desire, she may do this and then she will have to store the tissue in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator up until she gets to her doctor. Though, it is extremely rare that the tissue caught this way can be usable. Any woman should keep in mind, that tissue from the first miscarriage is not often tested, because it is assumed that the miscarriage occurred due to some genetic defect. Anyway, the best way to make sure testable tissue is to have a D&C procedure conducted.

Possible Symptoms of a Miscarriage
There are symptoms, which do not mean that a miscarriage is certain to occur, however, if a woman experiences any of them, she should better have some additional doctor’s monitoring. To these possible symptoms of a miscarriage belong:
Bleeding. In case if bleeding starts and stops, then starts and stops again, it usually means that the woman’s hormonal levels are falling. Although it is possible that a woman may feel like everything is okay, she still has to have her blood hCG pregnancy hormones levels checked and monitored. If the bleeding is heavy, and a pad gets completely soaked in less than an hour, it may be the symptom of the beginning of a miscarriage. However, it is necessary to keep in mind, that while bleeding is always a scary thing to have, still, about 70% of all pregnancies have bleedings at some point.

Cramping. Any woman, who got pregnant, will have to get ready to feel a great amount of random cramping down there the whole period of pregnancy. However, there are only two cases, when cramping should be a concern – it is in case if a woman is breathing in a labor – like huff, or if there is bleeding along with the cramps.