Early Pregnancy Loss: Causes, Management and Next Steps

UCSF

10/16/20

Length: 0 hr, 57 min

Number of views: 262 (as of 2/22/22)

Format: Panel

Speakers: Karen Meckstroth, MD, MPH; Heather Huddleston, MD; Melissa Whippo, LCSW

Synopsis: The webinar is broken into 4 different parts: the 1st and last parts are led by Dr. Karen Meckstroth, the 2nd by Melissa Whippo, and the third by Dr. Heather Huddleston. In the first part, Dr. Meckstroth establishes early pregnancy loss (EPL) terminology, presents EPL statistics by woman age group, and explains that there are no effective interventions to prevent EPLs. Following, in part 2, Melissa Whippo outlines the emotional distress and self-blaming found in patients that often comes with an early pregnancy loss. Whippo details the layers of emotional problems patients can face, such as a loss of expectations/innocence, grief, and the resurfacing of past trauma. Third, Dr. Heather Huddleston informs the audience about the leading cause of EPL, aneuploidy, which is an abnormal number of chromosomes in the embryo. She then relays some numbers regarding cases of individuals with multiple pregnancy losses and concludes her presentation by stating that the prognoses for these patients are promising as there are a number of factors that can be tested for and potentially fixed. Lastly, Dr. Meckstroth finishes by outlining early signs of EPL and the different avenues one can take once an EPL has been confirmed.

Access Webinar Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssaBDo4bTDE

Keywords: Topic Overview, Academics, Clinicians, Panel, One hour or less, Maternal Health, Pregnancy, Childbirth, Postpartum, Maternal Mental Health, Newborn Health, Respectful Maternity Care, Reproductive Health

Reviewed By: Andrew diSibio