Miscarriage, also known as a spontaneous abortion, is a natural occurrence of expulsion of a nonviable fetus and placenta from the uterus before the baby has the ability to survive outside of the uterus.

It affects one out of every four women. It is generally caused by a chromosomal or genetic abnormality in the baby.

It is estimated that almost every woman experiences at least one miscarriage in her reproduction age.

It is also found that about half of all pregnancies lead to spontaneous abortions.Miscarriage

The Recent studies shown that most women who undergo miscarriage will have healthy pregnancies later on. Only 1 to 2 % of women experience more than one spontaneous abortion successively.

Miscarriage is the loss of pregnancy before twenty-four weeks. The highest risk period for spontaneous abortion is between 4-6 weeks. Once you reach 8 or 9 weeks of your pregnancy (where the baby’s heartbeat is observed on the scan), there will be only 4-5% chances of having loss of pregnancy.

The possibility of miscarriage completely depends upon the speed of heartbeat. It should be 120-160 beats per minute. The possibility of spontaneous abortion then reduces to 5-8% and gradually decreases as weeks pass on.

Most of the fetal deaths take place in the first twelve to thirteen weeks. Sometimes, you may not have miscarriage for some weeks after fetal dies, which is usually called as missed miscarriage.

It is important to remember that the baby in the uterus will be termed as ‘embryo’ up to eight weeks and ‘fetus’ after 8weeks.

The most common reason for pregnancy loss is age. As you become older, your possibility of having miscarriages increases. It is estimated that the possibility of miscarriages is about fifteen percent at the age of 20-30. It gradually increases after that.

The other risk factors of pregnancy loss include smoking, sexually transmitted diseases, diabetes, infection, lack of nutritious food, alcohol consumption during pregnancy and hormonal imbalance.

It is important to know that miscarriage doesn’t happen with sexual intercourse, exercise, slight injuries, emotional upsets, and lifting children or other fairly heavy objects.

If you experience a recurrent pregnancy loss, then try to save any fetal tissue. Someone may be able to examine the tissue to detect the potential cause of the miscarriage. So, save it in a sterilized container or a plastic zipper bag.

However, there are some known causes for frequent miscarriages, which are mostly due to chromosomal defects, hormonal imbalances, bad immune system, severe infections, and defects of uterine.

It is highly recommended by the doctors that there should be a waiting period of minimum three months between a miscarriage and the next pregnancy attempt. It is avoided in some cases where your body will determine when it’s okay to get pregnant again.

Your regular menstrual period starts 4-6 weeks after having a loss of pregnancy. If you’re planning for getting pregnant again, better have good control over every cause that usually leads to miscarriage.

Also, eat healthy foods, take prenatal vitamins, treat your infections, be careful while taking medications, and maintain your weight.

3 COMMENTS

  1. i’m eight weeks pregnant and I was told by my doctor that my child is dead because she did not hear the heartbeat. I was reading in onaother article that hearbeat of a baby accours during your 3rd month of pregnancy. She have suggested to practice an abortion, what do you think of that.

  2. Hi
    Usually, in 8th week, we can hear the baby’s heart beat with ultrasound test. If it is not the case with you, wait for some more days and again have ultrasound examination. Don’t get stressed, everything will be alright.

  3. Hi,

    My wife had a miscarriage (predicted as blighted ovum)the first time. Then, when we tried again, the pg test showed a faint positive line and my wife had some spotting also. But luckily everything went on well and she delivered a baby girl who is 6 yrs now.

    Now we wanted another child. The pg test showed a faint +ve line and everything seemed fine with HCG injections and a few other tablets. But after 5 weeks, she had some spotting and abdominal cramps and has been diagnosed with blighted ovum again. She doesn’t have a normal menstrual cycle, very irregular, 30-55 days.

    What should we do to prevent such miscarriages in the future?

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