What is Empty Pregnancy and How to Overcome It

Have you ever heard the term empty pregnancy? Empty pregnancy is when a woman is already pregnant, but the fetus or embryo does not develop after fertilization occurs in the uterus. Usually, this condition is found in pregnant women in the early trimester of pregnancy.

Pregnancy occurs when there is a fertilization process or the meeting of a sperm cell and an egg cell. After fertilization, the fetus will generally be formed in approximately two weeks. This will then be followed by forming the amniotic sac at 5-6 weeks of gestation.

Empty pregnancy generally has signs similar to the signs of a normal pregnancy. However, pregnancy cannot continue until the baby is born in an empty pregnancy. In other words, this empty pregnancy will end in miscarriage.

Empty pregnancy can be caused by various factors, including genetic disorders, poor quality of sperm and egg cells, disturbances in the fertilization process, abnormalities in the uterus, side effects of drugs, to hormonal disorders such as the hormone progesterone.

So what are the signs of an empty pregnancy, and how to deal with them? For complete information let’s have a look below:

Empty Pregnancy Signs

Signs or characteristics of an empty pregnancy, in general, are not much different from a normal pregnancy, including the following:

• Late menstruation
• Nauseous
• Throw up
• Breasts feel tight

After a certain time, usually, the patient will begin to feel the symptoms of a miscarriage, including:

• Spots and bleeding from the vagina
• Cramps and stomach pain
• The volume of blood that comes out of the vagina is increasing

Usually, the symptoms of miscarriage from empty pregnancy appear in the first three months of pregnancy or between the 8th and 13th weeks of pregnancy. In some cases, this condition can also occur in early pregnancy. As a result, miscarriage can occur before the sufferer realizes that he is pregnant.

You need to know that an empty pregnancy can positively affect a pregnancy examination with a test pack. This is due to an increase in the hormone HCG. However, these signs will disappear as pregnancy hormone levels decrease in the following weeks.

Read more: Signs and Symptoms of Pregnancy Disorders to Watch Out for

How to Ensure a Normal Pregnancy and an Empty Pregnancy

Normal pregnancy and empty pregnancy have very similar signs to each other. It is necessary to check with a gynecologist to know if you are really pregnant or not. Usually, the doctor will perform an ultrasound examination that is carried out through the abdomen or vagina.

Pregnancy will be called empty if the ultrasound does not show the presence of a fetus and amniotic sac in the uterus. On the other hand, if an ultrasound examination finds a developing fetus and an amniotic sac in the uterus, it means that you have a normal pregnancy.

A doctor usually does this ultrasound examination at seven weeks of gestation. This is because, at that age, the fetus is already formed to be detected more easily. If you examine the gestational age, the doctor will usually ask you to come back again at the appointed time.

Causes of Empty Pregnancy

The cause of empty pregnancy cannot be known with certainty. However, this condition can generally occur due to chromosomal abnormalities in the egg. As a result, the process of cell division becomes imperfect. In this condition, fertilization cannot produce an embryo and stops developing, and the body will stop the pregnancy process.

Several factors can increase the risk of an empty pregnancy, including:

• Egg quality
• sperm quality
• Genetic factors, especially if the husband and wife have a close kinship.

Overcoming Empty Pregnancy

In general, an empty pregnancy will end with the appearance of signs of miscarriage. However, some women do not realize that they have an empty pregnancy, so they think these signs are caused by menstruation.

For women who have had an examination and found signs of pregnancy, the doctor may take several steps to treat this condition. Among them are as below:

   1. Waiting for the Baby Tissue Decay by Itself

There is no special treatment for these cases of empty pregnancies. An empty pregnancy will end by itself, along with the woman experiencing signs. However, while waiting for the tissue to fall off by itself, the doctor usually monitors the patient’s condition.

   2. Using Drugs

Handling in the next empty pregnancy can be done using drugs. This method is usually done to help remove embryonic tissue that failed to form correctly. Giving these drugs will usually be done in a clinic or a hospital with a doctor without the patient’s condition directly.

  3. Perform Dilatation and Curettage Procedures

Dilation and curettage are procedures to remove the remnants of placental tissue from the uterus. This procedure is done if there is still tissue left in the uterus after the process.

Read more: Symptoms and Causes of Pregnancy Outside the Womb

Prevention in Empty Pregnancy

In general, empty pregnancies actually cannot be prevented. However, having regular check-ups with the doctor during pregnancy can be the best way to monitor the condition of the fetus in the womb.

There are various tests you could do to prevent empty pregnancy. This test is really useful to find out whether there are factors that can increase the risk and causes of empty pregnancy, including the following:

• Preimplantation genetic examination to check the genetics of the embryo before implantation of embryo into the uterus
• Sperm analysis, to check sperm quality
• FSH hormone test or follicle-stimulating hormone and AHM hormone test to measure the levels of these two hormones in the body. This is important to do as a reference to whether action is needed to improve egg quality.

It is nice to know that most women who have experienced an empty pregnancy can still get pregnant well in their next pregnancy. After a miscarriage, it’s a great idea for the mother to wait for 1-3 normal menstrual cycles before planning to get pregnant again. This is to avoid the risk of an empty pregnancy again.

That’s it and all of the information above is an interesting and important review about empty pregnancies that you should know. An empty pregnancy can happen to anyone, both young couples and couples who have been pregnant before. Therefore, it is crucial for mothers who feel pregnancy symptoms to have regular check-ups with a gynecologist. This is to monitor the development of the fetus and ensure that you are not pregnant. Even if you have experienced an empty pregnancy, there is no need to worry because you can still get pregnant again normally. Keep on trying and good luck!