stern TV - Miscarriage: What does it mean?
According to the German Bundestag and the Professional Association of Gynecologists (Berufsverband der Frauenärzte e.V.), every third woman is affected by a miscarriage. There are many possible reasons for this, and women are rarely to blame. Nevertheless, miscarriages are still a taboo subject today and many of those affected feel loneliness or shame in addition to grief.
Natascha Sagorski also lost her unborn baby in 2019 in the tenth week of pregnancy. During a routine checkup, her doctor noticed that the heart was no longer beating. For the woman at the time a shock: "I immediately came to tears, it was like in the movies. I fell into a deep hole. Because I hadn't expected it at all." That same day, she goes to the clinic for a curettage.
In a miscarriage, the pregnancy ends early before the twenty-fourth week + the unborn baby weighs less than five hundred grams. Until this time, the child is considered non-viable. This happens very often, especially in the first third of a pregnancy: "The vast majority of miscarriages happen in the first few days. That is, when a pregnancy is not yet detectable, or the woman has not yet even had the idea that she could be pregnant," explains gynecologist Dr. Ursula Fragenberg.
Most miscarriages have no specific cause. Many of her patients come to her with feelings of guilt. Should they have eaten healthier, rested more or exercised less? Accusations that are unfounded: "As a rule, a miscarriage has nothing to do with external circumstances.I then convey to the woman quite clearly: this is what nature has dictated + we have no influence on it."
Natascha Sagorski also blamed herself at first. She looked for testimonials from other women, talked to friends and relatives. In the process, she met almost no one who had not yet come into contact with a miscarriage or had not even experienced it herself: "Then it became clear to me that if all these women are also affected by miscarriages, then I was not the one exception. That's when it happens quite frequently."
Maternity leave does not apply to women who suffer a miscarriage. In addition to the grief, there were also the physical consequences: "I was in really insane pain," Natasche describes the hours after the scraping. But the doctors didn't want to give her a sick note.
In addition, maternity leave did not apply to her because she lost the child before the twenty-fourth week of pregnancy. An absurdity for her: "Others leave the hospital with a baby and maxicose + I leave with an empty belly. It's such a bad feeling + then I'm not even entitled to protection. Because I'm not officially a mother anymore."
Broadcasting on 16th of June 2022 at 10.35pm on RTL
Music: POPVIRUS Library