Signs, Symptoms and Causes of Miscarriage
Understanding Miscarriage, and Identifying Causes and Risk Factors
Oct 4, 2009
A miscarriage (sometimes called "spontaneous abortion") is an unfortunate event that surprisingly happens more often than people may think. It is very difficult to accept, and generaly causes confusion as to why, or how, it could have happened.
A woman suffering from a miscarriage may wonder why it happened or blame herself. A miscarriage is no one’s fault, and cannot be prevented, aside from a few behavioural and lifestyle changes outlined further in this article.
What Is A Miscarriage?
A miscarriage is a pregnancy loss that usually occurs during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. It is usually the body's way of ending a pregnancy was doomed from the start.
How Common Is It?
Miscarriages are surprisingly common. Studies suggest that approximately 20% of all pregnancies end in a miscarriage. This number is vague, however, because many women will have a miscarriage before they even know they are pregnant.
Causes Of Miscarriage
Usually, miscarriages occur because of some chromosomal abnormalities in the embryo. A miscarriage of this sort is nature's way of terminating a pregnancy that would never develop into a healthy baby. In many cases, doctor's cannot pin-point exactly why a miscarriage has happened.
Once the pregnancy surpasses it's 12th week, the risk of a miscarriage is dramatically reduced. This is why many women wait until they are safely past their first trimester to announce their pregnancy.
Signs And Symptoms Of A Miscarriage
The most common signs of a miscarriage are:
- Vaginal bleeding. This is a dangerous sign that something may be wrong with the pregnancy. The bleeding can be light or heavy, and may sometimes come on or off;
- Abdominal, lower back, or pelvic pain or cramping;
- Passing tissue from the vagina.
Some miscarriages are only discovered during an ultrasound or prenatal visit when the technician or doctor cannot find the baby's heartbeat.
If any of the above symptoms are experienced, it is important to seek medical attention right away if there is heavy, constant bleeding, severe cramping, fever, weakness, or signs of infection. Otherwise, the miscarriage should just be allowed to take it's own course and complete on its own. Many times a miscarriage takes a few days to happen.
There are times, however, when treatment may be required to clear the uterus if the miscarriage is not happening fast enough, and complications are arising. A procedure called a D&C ('dilation and curettage') invlolves surgically removing tissue from the uterus. No treatment can actually stop a miscarriage.
Common Types Of Miscarriage
Although there are a variety of ways in which a miscarriage can occur, common forms include:
- Ectopic Pregnancy - the fertilized egg develops outside of the uterus, mostly in the fallopian tube.
- Molar Pregnancy - an abnormality of the placenta, caused by a problem when the egg and sperm join together at fertilization.
- Blighted Ovum - a fertilized egg attaches to the wall of the uterus, but the embryo doesn't develop.
- Luteal Phase Defect - when the second phase of the menstrual cycle lasts less than 10 days, and the lining of the uterus will not be able to build up to a healthy point where implantation of a fertilized egg can occur.
Unfortunately, there are two tests that are done to detect abnormalities with the fetus that have a slight chance of causing a miscarriage: amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS). These can cause miscarriage in 1-2% of women.
Risk Factors
The following factors can increase the risk of a miscarriage:
- Smoking
- Excessive caffeine consumption
- Alcohol consumption
- Previous miscarriages
- Fibroids
- Lupus
- Age
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease
- Thyroid disease
- Infection
Coping with a miscarriage is very difficult, but it can be comforting to know that most women are able to get pregnant again, and deliver a healthy, full-term baby. Mourning the loss of a baby is not only normal, but it's important to release these feelings. Losing a baby is tragic no matter how early in pregnancy it happens.
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