Although most women miscarry at home and their bodies expel the fetus, sometimes an incomplete or missed miscarriage occurs and a D&C may be necessary.
D&C (where the D stands for dilatation and the C stands for curettage) is a procedure that is used to remove remaining tissue from the uterus. In an incomplete or missed miscarriage there is tissue left behind in the uterus. D&C uses dilation to open the cervix and an instrument called a curette is used to scrape and clean out the uterus.
It is important to remove this tissue from the uterus, or you may end up with an infection. Normally D&C is done under general anesthetic. Your doctor may perform an ultrasound to determine if you need to have this procedure done.