Archive for the 'Miscarriage' Category

Miscarriage is a devastating thing for any couple. Recovering from a miscarriage makes you feel depressed, hopeless and angry.

However, it is very common for a woman to want to conceive immediately after a miscarriage [Pregnancy after miscarriage].

Conceiving after a miscarriage brings out a lot of emotions, develops fear of another miscarriage, as well as the anxiety of not conceiving after miscarriage for the first few trials.

Conceiving after miscarriage provokes various questions like:

• How much longer should I bleed after a miscarriage?
• How do I prevent a miscarriage after conceiving again?
• When should I attempt to conceive after miscarriage?

Bleeding after miscarriage: Most people are not sure about the period for bleeding after miscarriage. Usually, bleeding lasts for 4-5 days to two weeks. Experiencing a miscarriage during the third trimester can cause bleeding for six weeks. During this period, don’t put anything in your vagina.

Prevent the fear of another miscarriage: It is natural for a woman to fear having another miscarriage. Be honest with your partner and loved ones because no-one is equipped to understand the feeling of this fear.

Planning for pregnancy after a miscarriage is really a most difficult decision for most of the couples.

Dealing with pain and grief of a pregnancy loss makes conceiving again as an impossible and sometimes a disagreeable condition for some couples, but some others want to become pregnant immediately.

However, you should wait to conceive until you become both physically and emotionally ready. Still most of you get a doubt that when can you try for another pregnancy.

Right time for planning pregnancy after miscarriage:

Frankly speaking, there is no specific amount of time you need to wait for conceiving again. But, most of the health professionals suggest you to wait for few months in order to strengthen the odds of a healthy pregnancy.

If your body is not prepared to support for a pregnancy at the time you conceive again, then you need to face a higher risk of recurrent miscarriage. Some time is necessary for recovery of the uterus and strengthening of the endometrial lining.

Medically, the safe period for conception is after 2-3 menstrual cycles. Some other practitioners suggest you to wait for six months to one year before trying for another pregnancy.

Drug and alcohol problems and psychiatric disorders are more likely in women who have had an abortion or miscarriage, a University of Queensland study has found.

PhD candidate Kaeleen Dingle found young women who lost a pregnancy were more susceptible to depression, anxiety, alcohol dependency and illicit substance abuse than women who had never been pregnant.

Ms Dingle said her study expanded on recent evidence that suggested abortions were associated with later psychiatric disorders, by finding miscarriage held the same risks.

“Our findings suggest that this increased risk of psychiatric problems in some women after an abortion may be associated with pregnancy loss rather than caused by the experience of having an induced abortion,” she said.

“We found that young women having a miscarriage or an abortion were three times more likely to experience a drug or alcohol problem during their lifetime.”

Ms Dingle said the study had implications for caregivers, who may need to give more counselling and support to women who have lost a pregnancy.

“Also, health professionals involved in the care of young women with mental health problems need to take good pregnancy histories, as young women can have complex pregnancy (pregnancy complications) histories involving births, miscarriages and abortions,” she said.

Coping with pregnancy loss is one of the most devastating and difficult things anyone can ever do.

It often brings feeling about guilt, depression, sadness and also fear.

The most beneficial way to cope with pregnancy loss is to deal with these emotions and handle them in a more effective way.

There are a number of ways to handle your emotions after miscarriage. Some of the best ways include:

Avoid blaming yourself: Realize that it’s not your fault and miscarriage or   pregnancy complications and it can happen to anyone.

Talk openly about your feelings and how it is affecting you with your partner to lift the burden from your mind.

Consult therapists: Meet with therapists individually and talk to them about your miscarriage. This can be a huge help to allow you to grieve over your loss together.

They can also help give you effective techniques that will enable you to understand what has happened to you.

Take a break from work: If you feel incapable of continuing your regular work routine, don’t force yourself. Taking a break from your regular routine can help you to acknowledge and examine all that you are going through.

Is there any link between progesterone and miscarriages? Many scientists believe that progesterone plays a vital role in miscarriage and also in pregnancy.

Progesterone is most important hormone of pregnancy and menstrual cycle.

Level of progesterone rises every month and prepares your uterine lining for pregnancy.

As progesterone is linked with pregnancy and miscarriage, some doctors believe that low levels of progesterone during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage.

Is it really true?

Even though low levels of progesterone can lead to miscarriage, but it is not progesterone that is entirely responsible for miscarriage.

Unfortunately, many women believe that low level of progesterone is main cause behind their miscarriage and undergo treatments for low levels of progesterone. As a result, they are experiencing recurrent miscarriage.

So, it is very important for you to realize that low progesterone levels are not the only reason for miscarriage. There are many other factors including low progesterone level that causes miscarriage.

What are those other factors?

Most miscarriages take place due to abnormal development of fetus. Even the genes or chromosomes of the fetus play a vital role in miscarriage.

UK scientists studying women with a history of unexplained recurrent miscarriage found that the risk of a further miscarriage for obese women was significantly higher than that of normal weight women.

They recommended counselling should be given to pregnant women who are obese to help them understand the benefit that weight loss may have on pregnancy outcome, but other experts urge caution because there are also risks associated with losing weight during pregnancy.

The links between miscarriage and maternal obesity have been well studied and established, but this is the first study to look at recurrent miscarriages for which there is no explanation, said the authors.

For the study, clinical nurse specialist at the hospital, Winnie Lo, and colleagues, examined 398 women who had been attending the hospital with their partners for unexplained miscarriages between 1996 and 2006.

They then followed them on their next pregnancy and also put them into four groups depending on their Body Mass Index (BMI).

When they analysed the data they adjusted the results for potential confounders like age, a well know risk factor for miscarriage.

Read more at Medical News Today

Have you ever been told that you are not pregnant, even though you have an egg in your uterus?

If at all this is the case, then you can feel a bit confused and depressed with the condition.

This particular condition of miscarriage is commonly known as blighted ovum and it can mainly happen when a fertilized egg attaches itself to uterine walls.

A blighted ovum usually takes place in your first trimester, before you know that you are pregnant. It is the most common cause for early pregnancy loss in women.

Blighted ovum possibly takes place when a full fertilized egg, which has already developed placenta and membrane, sticks to the walls of your uterus and hence there will not be any growth of embryo in your womb.

This kind of miscarriage usually takes place in those women who normally experience chromosomal abnormalities with their fertilized egg.

What can happen when you have blighted ovum?

With this condition of blighted ovum, you can miss a period and can also have a positive result in your pregnancy test. This is mainly due to the reason that the placenta developed by the fertilized egg typically secretes a pregnancy hormone called human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG).

Miscarriage is natural ending of pregnancy before the fetus has developed to survive outside the uterus.

In general, a miscarriage occurs when the fetus and the placenta stop developing.

A miscarriage that occurs naturally before the first 20 weeks of pregnancy is known as spontaneous abortion or pregnancy loss.

The possibility of having miscarriage increases as you age. Moreover, early miscarriages are so common that about 10-20% of all pregnancies lead to miscarriage within first twelve weeks of pregnancy.

The early miscarriage signs can differ from one woman to another. In some cases, you may develop early miscarriage signs and lose your pregnancy without knowing that you are pregnant.

Vaginal bleeding is the first early miscarriage sign. However, vaginal bleeding during pregnancy is so common that only 50% of all pregnancies lead to miscarriage.

If you have late period and experience a vaginal bleeding that is heavy with blood clots, then it is a sign of early miscarriage and need to inform your doctor right away about the condition.

Spotting doesn’t always indicate a sign of miscarriage. However, spotting in early stages of pregnancy is common but if it is moderate to heavy bleeding (brown or bright red) with or without pain, you can consider it as an early miscarriage sign.