Miscarriage

Early Miscarriage

Many pregnant women fear they will suffer miscarriage in early pregnancy and this can keep their joy of their pregnancy guarded. This fear of early miscarriage also prevents some women from letting people know about their pregnancy until they have reached the fourth month and are feeling more secure that the pregnancy will continue. Early miscarriage is very common, occurring in as many as 40-65% of conceptions, more than half of these early miscarriages occur so early in the pregnancy that pregnancy is not even suspected yet. These early miscarriages go unnoticed, often passing as a normal or slightly heavier period. The vast majority of women who experience miscarriage go on to have a normal pregnancy in the future. Early miscarriage is usually related to a chromosomal or other genetic abnormality in the embryo and is usually triggered by an embryo or fetus which is no longer alive.

There is still a lot to learn about the reasons behind early miscarriage but several factors which are listed below are believed not to cause early miscarriage:

• Brief emotional upset which is a result from an argument or from momentary stress at home or work.
• Usual and accustomed physical activity eg. lifting children and shopping, moderate safe exercise, housework and moving light furniture a high risk pregnancy your doctor may wish you to limit these activities and may insist on complete bed rest- but without your doctor's specific instruction to do this there is no need to eliminate these activities.
• A fall or minor accidental injury; a serious injury however could result in early miscarriage so safety precautions should always be observed and followed eg. not climbing ladders, wearing a seat belt with the lap part of the belt under your bump.
• Previous problems with an IUD (coil). Scarring of the lining of the uterus caused by an IUD triggered infection could prevent a pregnancy implanting in the uterus, but once implantation is well established it should not increase the risk of early miscarriage.
• Sexual intercourse- unless you have a history of miscarriage or are otherwise at risk from miscarriage.

Risk factors which are believed to increase the risk of miscarriage include:

• Poor nutrition
• Smoking
• Hormonal imbalance
• Infection with bacterial vaginosis
• Chlamydia or other certain STDs
• Some chronic maternal medical problems including, con-genital heart disease, severe kidney disease, thyroid disease and lupus
• Infection with rubella or other diseases which harm the fetus
• Exposure to drugs which are harmful to the fetus
• High fever
• IUD (coil) in place at conception

Healthy Mum - Miscarriage page 1