A miscarriage is always a stressful event and women respond differently and so also prefer different ways of managing things. Miscarriage may be managed by observation which means waiting for the pregnancy tissue to be passed by itself. In some cases this may take a number of weeks and sometimes this can be associated with prolonged bleeding. It can also be managed with medication called misoprostol which causes the uterus to contract and the pregnancy tissue is passed within a day or two. Sometimes surgery is required for pain and bleeding with either of these methods if all of the pregnancy tissue is not passed. The third option is surgical management. It involves a general anaesthetic and brief operation where the pregnancy tissue is removed from your uterus. There is a small risk of heavy bleeding, of infection and of injury to the wall of the uterus (perforation).
Rarely a second curettage may be required as some of the tissue may not have been removed the first time if the uterus was very soft and the risk of injury to your uterine wall prevented me being able to remove it all. Bleeding and pain usually resolve more quickly after a curettage and this takes about one week. The advantage of surgical management is that you will recover more quickly than with either of the other methods and what happens to you is more predictable. If you experience a miscarriage then I will discuss these three options with you. If I believe there is a preferred way for your situation to be managed I will advise you of that. Once all of the pregnancy tissue is passed your next period will most likely come in 4-6 weeks and it is reasonable to try again for a pregnancy after the next normal period if you were planning to.