Bleeding in Early Pregnancy

Abstract

Apart from vomiting in early pregnancy, vaginal bleeding is the commonest symptom for which the general practitioner is consulted before the 28th week-that is, before foetal viability. A patient may, honestly or otherwise, give a menstrual history which appears to exclude pregnancy; nevertheless whenever there is abnormal bleeding at any time between menarche and menopause a complication of pregnancy must always be considered a possibility. Conversely, not every instance of amenorrhoea followed by vaginal bleeding is an abortion; yet women are occasionally classified as habitual aborters after two or three such episodes where products of conception have never been confirmed, and the basic problem of primary infertility is thereby obscured. For the purpose of this article it is presumed that pregnancy is confirmed or suspected.

‘Miscarriage or abortion?’ Understanding the medical language of pregnancy loss in Britain; a historical perspective

“…A 1964 BMJ article on the subject of ‘bleeding in early pregnancy’ spoke of ‘criminal interference’ that ‘such interference is so often denied, even when it is obvious, that many doctors do not inquire about the possibility.’19…”