Miscarriage

Alternative Names

Miscarriage, Spontaneous abortion

What is Miscarriage

A miscarriage is a pregnancy loss during the first 20 weeks. It is usually your body's way of ending a pregnancy that has had a bad start. In most cases, the loss of a pregnancy is very hard to accept. Many women wonder why it happened or blame themselves. Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent it. Miscarriages are very common. Approximately 1 out of 6 women has a miscarriage.

Signs and symptoms

The common signs of a miscarriage may include:

• Bleeding from the vagina. The bleeding may be light or heavy, constant or off and on. It can sometimes be hard to know whether light bleeding is a sign of miscarriage. But if you have bleeding with pain, the chance of a miscarriage is higher.
• Pain in the belly, lower back or pelvis
• Tissue that passes from the vagina

Possible complications

Sometimes women who had a miscarriage may develop a uterine infection (septic miscarriage). Signs and symptoms of this infection are considered to be:

• Fever
• Chills
• Body aches
• Thick, foul-smelling vaginal discharge

What causes

Many miscarriages are caused by abnormal development of the fertilized egg in the uterus. A miscarriage cannot be caused by stress, exercise or sex. In many cases, doctors do not know the exact cause of the miscarriage. The risk of miscarriage is lower after the first 12 weeks of the pregnancy.

Prevention

In most cases, the prevention of miscarriage is impossible. You should concentrate on taking good care of yourself and your baby. It is obligatory to seek regular prenatal care and avoid such risk factors as smoking and drinking alcohol. You should inform your doctor if you have a chronic condition.

Treatment

Unfortunately, there is no treatment to stop a miscarriage. As long as you do not have heavy blood loss, a fever, weakness, or other signs of infection, you can let a miscarriage follow its own course. It takes several days.

If you have Rh-negative blood, you will need a shot of Rhogam in order to prevent problems in future pregnancies. If you have not had your blood type checked, you will need a blood test to find out if you are Rh-negative.

In many cases, miscarriages complete on their own, but sometimes treatment is necessary. If you are having a miscarriage, work with your doctor to watch for and prevent problems. If the uterus does not clear quickly enough, you could lose too much blood or develop an infection. In this case, medicine or a procedure called a dilation and curettage (D&C) can more quickly clear tissue from the uterus.