O08: Complications following abortion and ectopic and molar pregnancy

O08.1: Delayed or excessive haemorrhage following abortion and ectopic and molar pregnancy

This type of premature end to pregnancy may involve a miscarriage or a hydatidiform mole (molar pregnancy), for example. A hydatidiform mole is when a child fails to form a fertilized egg cell, and a benign tumor develops instead. It may also be a case of a pregnancy that failed to develop in the normal area inside the womb.

The unusually heavy bleeding may be caused by a blood clotting disorder. Platelets and various clotting proteins in the blood are involved in blood clotting. The platelets can adhere to one another in such a way that they stop a bleed. The clotting proteins stabilize the platelets that have stuck together. This enables wounds to heal, for example.

When blood clotting is disrupted, platelets adhere inside blood vessels. This can cause blood vessels to become blocked. Due to the disrupted blood clotting, blood platelets and clotting proteins get used up so that there is then a shortage in other areas. Then bleeding can result in other places.