Precious attended Mascot Healthcare for what she expected to be a routine dating scan at 10 weeks. The sonographer found a foetus measuring 7 weeks with no cardiac activity. She received the news, and the care, with honesty and compassion.
Banker, Gbagada. Presented at 10 weeks for routine dating scan.
Missed MiscarriagePrecious booked her dating scan at Mascot Healthcare at 10 weeks, as advised by her midwife. She had been mildly nauseated from week 6 and her breasts had been tender. By week 9 both had begun to ease, which she assumed meant her body was 'settling.'
The sonographer began the scan with Precious's husband sitting beside her. The image appeared on screen — a foetal sac, clearly visible. The sonographer measured it. Then measured again. The foetus measured 7+2 weeks. There was no foetal heartbeat on careful review.
The sonographer paused the scan, called the doctor into the room, and a second, independent review confirmed the finding. A missed miscarriage at approximately 7 weeks, found at 10 weeks. The room was quiet.
Missed miscarriage is called 'missed' precisely because the body has not yet registered the loss. Symptoms are often absent.
The pregnancy appeared to be continuing normally — no warning signs.
Morning sickness that had been present at weeks 6–8 had begun to ease by week 9.
Subtle — she had attributed it to the pregnancy progressing.
Still positive at the time of the scan — hCG levels can remain elevated for weeks.
A missed miscarriage is clinically silent until the body initiates expulsion.
Precious had done everything correctly. She had taken folic acid from before conception. She had stopped alcohol. She had attended early for her scan. A missed miscarriage is not caused by what a mother does or does not do — it is almost always the result of chromosomal abnormalities incompatible with life, occurring at the moment of fertilisation.
The question she asked — 'Was it something I did?' — is the most common question the clinic hears after a pregnancy loss. The honest, evidence-based answer is: almost certainly not.
The attending doctor explained the findings clearly and gently. He described what a missed miscarriage is — that the pregnancy had stopped developing several weeks earlier, but the body had not yet recognised this. He explained the three management options: expectant (waiting for natural passage), medical (medication to induce passage), and surgical (manual vacuum aspiration).
Precious and her husband were given time — they were not rushed. A private room was made available. The options were discussed without pressure, with honest information about the timeline, experience, and safety of each approach.
Pelvic ultrasound: gestational sac measuring consistent with 10 weeks. Embryo measuring 7+2 weeks with no cardiac activity detected on extended review. Crown-rump length measurements consistent with demise at approximately 7 weeks. Diagnosis: missed miscarriage.
After discussion, Precious opted for expectant management initially, with medical management (medication) if natural passage did not occur within 2 weeks. She was given written information, the clinic's WhatsApp number, and advised to attend A&E if bleeding became heavier than a heavy period or she felt faint.
Precious returned 10 days later. Ultrasound confirmed complete passage of products of conception. A follow-up scan at 4 weeks showed the uterus had returned to normal. Subsequent menstrual cycle returned at approximately 6 weeks.
Natural passage occurred on day 9. The follow-up scan confirmed complete miscarriage. Precious was counselled on the timeline for trying again (recommended to wait for one normal menstrual cycle). She returned 4 months later — pregnant again.
Approximately 1 in 5 confirmed pregnancies ends in miscarriage — most in the first trimester. Of these, a significant proportion are missed miscarriages discovered at routine scans. The overwhelming majority are due to chromosomal abnormalities in the embryo — nothing the mother could have prevented.
Early pregnancy scanning at 7–10 weeks, as offered at Mascot Healthcare from ₦7,000, detects viable pregnancies and identifies early pregnancy complications including missed miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, and blighted ovum — all of which benefit from early clinical management rather than uncertainty.
A missed miscarriage is not something you caused. It is nature's response to an embryo that could not develop. Early pregnancy scanning ensures that if a loss occurs, it is found and managed safely — not discovered by accident or emergency.
Walk in to Mascot Healthcare, Akoka — same-day consultation, transparent pricing, 4.9★ rated.