Miscarriage

Miscarriage is very common, and occurs in three out of every 10 pregnancies. Most miscarriages happen in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Having a miscarriage doesn't mean that you won't be able to get pregnant again, and most women go on to have a successful pregnancy in the future.

Symptoms of miscarriage

The most common symptom of miscarriage is vaginal bleeding. This can vary from light spotting to bleeding that is heavier than your period. You may also see blood clots, a brown discharge, or other tissue that isn't clearly identifiable.

You can often get cramping and pain in your pelvis or back. You may find that the usual symptoms of pregnancy, such as breast tenderness, feeling sick and having to pass urine more frequently than usual, stop unexpectedly.

Sometimes there are no symptoms and your miscarriage may only be discovered in a routine scan.

If you have vaginal bleeding at any time during pregnancy, you should contact your GP or midwife immediately for advice.

Causes of miscarriage

About half of all early miscarriages happen because of a problem in the way your genetic material (chromosomes) combined when your egg and your partner's sperm has joined during fertilization. You may never find out why this has happened, but it's more likely to be due to chance than to any underlying problem with either you or your partner.

Imbalances in pregnancy hormones, problems with your immune system, and some infections such as Listerine (Listeria infection) and malaria are also thought to make miscarriages more likely.

Miscarriages become more common as you get older, because egg quality decreases with age. If you drink alcohol while you're pregnant, your risk of having a miscarriage is higher. It's also higher with multiple pregnancies, such as twins. Smoking may increase the risk of miscarriage, so you should stop smoking during pregnancy.

There isn't enough evidence to show whether or not stress is a risk factor for miscarriage, but it's a good idea to take time during the day to relax.

Doing moderate exercise or having sex whilst you're pregnant doesn't increase your risk of miscarriage.

You're slightly less likely to have a miscarriage if you previously took the contraceptive pill.

Often you won't know what has caused your miscarriage. If you have already started to miscarry there is very little that can be done to prevent it.

Treatment of miscarriage

If your miscarriage is complete, you won't usually need any further treatment. For an incomplete or missed miscarriage or when you have a lot of bleeding, you may need treatment with medicines or surgery to remove the remaining pregnancy tissue, although some women may prefer to let nature takes its course (this is called expectant management).

Expectant management is linked with an increased risk of bleeding, whereas surgical treatment carries a slightly increased risk of infection.