Taking care of your body after a miscarriage

What follows combines several patients' visits into one composite story. It is not about any one person, and anything that could identify someone has been removed.

How do patients usually come to us?

Even if, on the outside, you seem to have returned to daily life, your body comes to us in a different state than before. The first thing we see is the tiredness that remains in your face.

When we ask, many say that even before, they tired easily and slept lightly. They wake easily at small sounds, skip breakfast, and often feel bloated.

They say their hands and feet are always cold and their lower belly tends to feel cold too.

Why look at the body first?

Because getting your strength back comes first right now. We tell you that the next conversation is best had once your body has recovered to some degree.

We don't tell you what will happen next because of this treatment. This isn't a place for making that kind of promise.

What do we look at?

We gently press on the belly. When we place a hand there, we check whether there's a healthy push back, or whether it sinks in without strength.

In Korean medicine, this state of depleted strength is called qi deficiency.

Many women feel pain when we press between the pit of the stomach and the navel. We read this as a sign that the stomach has been under strain for a long time.

We write down mealtimes and sleep as they are. If you've been skipping breakfast for a long time, we start there.

How do we treat it?

Before building up, we prepare the body to receive it. Putting in only good things while digestion is weak just adds a burden.

Next, we restore energy and warm the cold lower belly. If the order isn't kept, all you get is an upset stomach.

We also work together on habits that chill the body: what you eat, what you wear, and your time for rest.

How did things go?

Sleep gets deeper first, and a more settled stomach comes next. Hands and feet feeling less cold comes later still.

We ask you not to rush. This is a time for recovering, not for achieving something.

What are the limits of this approach?

Miscarriage has many causes, and most of them are beyond anyone's control. It is not because you did something wrong.

If bleeding continues, you have a fever, or you have severe abdominal pain, see an OB-GYN first. If your mood stays low, it's also good to get support for that.

To those going through the same time

1. Even if you seem back to normal on the outside, your body is different from before.
2. Getting your strength back comes first right now.
3. Before building up, we prepare the body to receive it — there's an order.
4. It is not because you did something wrong.
5. If you have bleeding, fever, or severe abdominal pain, see an OB-GYN first.

We look at the flow of the whole body together. Looking at one symptom on its own makes it easy for it to keep coming back.

If one symptom keeps coming back, come see us once. We don't look at it on its own; we look at the flow of the whole body together.

Everyone's body is different, so the same treatment can lead to different courses.