Time to stop and rethink D&C procedures?

Time to stop and rethink D&C procedures?

It is Time to stop and rethink D&C procedures? The psychological impact of a D&C (a dilation and curettage procedure) to remove tissue from the uterus can be emotionally destabilizing.

Whilst pregnancy loss brings with it depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress, a D&C can change a woman’s relationship to her body. It disrupts a basic sense of safety, and how the loss that is handled medically can still feel psychologically unfinished.

The story of having a baby becomes a long and effortful journey, marked by cycles of hope, loss, and recalibration.

Probably one of the most intrusive experiences along the fertility journey, sometimes more than once, is a dilation and curettage.

Although often described as a routine medical procedure, a D&C is intensely psychologically disruptive, not because it is rare, but because of what it asks a person to absorb mentally and physically, all at once.

That shock and grief can rub up against understanding and legal consent. Reeling from the knowledge of the loss there is often a rush to make a decision about the medical process. Many times Doctors push for D&C to ‘get it over with’ or because ‘ you will end up there anyway’.

There needs to be a pause. To process what’s happened and then make a decision. Let your body and mind aline. Let your body process the loss and if that doesn’t work can medical management be introduced.

D&C should be the last resort. The risks to future fertility are simply too great to allow this to still be classified as ‘routine’.