Risks and benefits of both: Natural miscarriage or d&c
I had natural miscarriage, so here are some benefits of natural miscarriage that I considered:
Some people believe it's better for body to heal itself. If you have faith in God maybe this option would be the most attractive to you.
Why to have natural miscarriage:
Avoid medical mistakes that doctors can make.
If you really want to see your baby, you could try natural miscarriage.
Not much pain if you baby isn't very big. In my case baby was 8 weeks when it died and I had a miscarriage at 14 weeks so pain wasn't very big for me.
For many women it could be just like a heavy period and pain shouldn't be very strong. You could have some strong cramps or contractions but it isn't very painful if your baby isn't very big.
Why NOT to have natural miscarriage:
Sometimes can be complications or infections during or after natural miscarriage.
Sometimes not all tissues come out during natural miscarriage and you would have to do d&c anyway, to clean out all the tissues that left.
For some women it's psychologically hard to wait and carry a dead baby for many weeks waiting for natural miscarriage.
Some women never miscarry naturally and have to have d&c done after a long period of waiting for a miscarriage to occur.
Many doctors don't give women enough time to miscarry on their own because affraid of infections or complications.
Reasons why to have a D&C:
It's faster. It can be done in 10-30 minutes by your doctor and you would have a very mild pain. You would be put to sleep and won't feel anything. You could have only mild cramps after that and wouldn't be too much bleeding.
Some women prefer to have d&c if they don't feel they can handle natural miscarriage emotionally. Or some women are just affraid of what can happen during miscarriage.
Less pain. Most women who did d&c had very little pain after that. Women usually have more pain during natural miscarriage.
Reasons why NOT to have D&C:
There are risk and complications with any surgery. Medical mistakes sometimes occur too.
Risk of being under anesthesia. Risk is very minimal, but doctors always warn you about it.
You would have to give blood again for tests and preparation for surgery.
Psychological affects of d&c. D&c sometimes called an abortion and many women don't want anything associated with such word happen to them. If you feel like you would blame yourself for doing surgical abortion to your body, then maybe it would easier for you to have natural miscarriage.
My final word
I don't know what you will decide to do in your situation. It depends what your doctor will suggest you, how big is your baby and what kind of emotional condition you are in.
I head a natural miscarriage and it was a good decision for me. My natural miscarriage was very easy, were no problems and no complications. Contractions were mildly painful, and I could tolerate it well.
Tall Girl