Management of missed miscarriage - leaflet

If you have a missed or incomplete miscarriage, doctors will need to make sure the remains of your baby and pregnancy tissue don’t stay in your womb. This is sometimes called management of miscarriage. 

Making a decision about what happens next may be the last thing you want to do. Your doctor or nurse will talk to you about your options. 

We know that having clear information and a chance to ask questions can make difficult decisions a little bit easier. We hope this downloadable pdf helps guide your conversation and leaves you feeling more prepared, whatever you decide. It's a good idea to read it alongside more detailed information on your options.

Information on how and why this leaflet was developed

This decision aid leaflet was developed with a group of people with lived experience of missed miscarriage as part of work to update patient guidance in line with the latest research on the most effective treatment for missed miscarriage.

University of Birmingham researchers from the Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research conducted a project to understand the effectiveness of mifepristone and misoprostol for the medical management of missed miscarriage, referred to as the MifeMiso trial. 

This clinical trial demonstrated that, for women who chose medical management for missed miscarriage, taking both misoprostol and mifepristone is more effective than misoprostol alone. 

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) updated their guidelines in August 2023 to reflect these findings. You can find out more about the trial, the findings of the research and the latest NICE guidance here.