Medical history (history of illness) is an important component in the diagnosis of miscarriage (abortion).
Family history
- Are there any hereditary diseases in your family?
Social history
- Is there any evidence of psychosocial stress or strain due to your family situation?
Current medical history/systemic history (somatic and psychological complaints).
- Are you bleeding from the vagina?*
- Do you have any labor-like pain?*
- Have you felt discharge of amniotic fluid?*
- Do you have a fever?*
Vegetative anamnesis including nutritional anamnesis.
- Did you exercise a lot (more than seven hours of exercise per week) at the beginning of pregnancy (in the first 18 weeks of pregnancy)?
- Were you x-rayed during pregnancy as part of the diagnosis of a medical condition?
- Do you like to drink coffee, black or green tea? If so, how many cups per day?
- Do you drink other or additional caffeinated beverages? If so, how much of each?
- Do you smoke? If yes, how many cigarettes, cigars or pipes per day?
- Do you drink alcohol? If yes, what drink(s) and how many glasses per day?
- Do you use drugs? If yes, what drugs and how often per day or per week?
Self history incl. medication history.
- Pre-existing conditions (metabolic diseases, infectious diseases, bleeding disorders).
- Operations
- Radiotherapy
- Allergies
- Pregnancy data (week of pregnancy, previous complications, etc.).
- Pregnancy history: how many births (live births); how many previous abortions?
Medication history
- Antibiotics – medications such as tetracyclines, lincosamides, or aminoglycosides used to treat bacterial infections.
- Fluconazole (antifungal drug from the triazole derivatives group), oral; reproductive toxicity (48% ↑).
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), excluding acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), doubled the risk of abortion; risk was greatest with diclofenac, followed by naproxen, celecoxib, ibuprofen, and rofecoxib
- Vaccinations with live vaccines such as against measles, mumps, rubella, yellow fever, varicella – chickenpox – should not be given during pregnancy
- Cytostatics – drugs such as cyclophosphamide or methotrexate to fight cancer can lead to abortions due to their teratogenicity – fertility damaging effect.
Environmental history
- Occupational contact with carcinogens
- Air pollutants: sulfur dioxide (SO2) levels correlate with the number of restrained abortions (Engl. missed abortion)
- Phthalates (mainly as plasticizers for soft PVC)Note: Phthalates belong to the endocrine disruptors (synonym: xenohormones), which can harm health even in small amounts by changing the hormonal system.
* If this question has been answered with “Yes”, an immediate visit to the doctor is required! (Information without guarantee)
