Miscarriage or pregnancy loss is the loss of the pregnancy before your 20th week. Around 10-20% of known pregnancies lead to miscarriages. However, the actual percentage is higher because many pregnancy loss occurs at an early stage of pregnancy before mothers even know they are pregnant. The term “miscarriage” indicates something went wrong while carrying the baby. This experience can cause emotional and physical stress. There are several types of miscarraiges caused by a variety of factors.
When your body shows symptoms that you might miscarry, known as a threatened miscarriage, you might experience lower abdominal pain or light vaginal bleeding.
Inevitable Miscarriage
It occurs without warning. You will experience strong lower stomach cramps or more vaginal bleeding.
Complete Miscarriage
This happens when all your pregnancy tissues leave your uterus. You may experience vaginal bleeding for several days.
Incomplete Miscarriage
In this case, pregnancy tissues remain in the uterus. Lower abdominal cramping and vaginal bleeding may continue longer as the uterus tries to empty itself.
Missed Miscarriage
This refers to when a fetus dies but stays in the uterus, leading to a missed miscarriage. You will notice a brownish discharge and pregnancy symptoms like tiredness and nausea.
Some signs of miscarriage include:
Many miscarriages occur when the fetus doesn’t develop as expected. Additionally, around 50% of miscarriages are linked to missing or extra chromosomes. And the chromosome problems occur when the embryo divides and grows, which is not an inherited issue. Chromosome issues can result from:
Your doctor will do an ultrasound to confirm pregnancy loss. This helps them check the presence of a fetal heartbeat. Your doctor might also perform a blood test to measure hCG or human chorionic gonadotropin, the hormone the placenta makes. Low hCG levels indicates a miscarriage. Lastly, you might also undergo a pelvic exam to see if your cervix has opened.
Many women who experience miscarriages suffer from an infection in the uterus, known as a septic miscarriage. Symptoms of the infection are:
If you go through a complete miscarriage, your uterus will be empty. In this case, you don’t need any further treatment. In some cases, tissues are left in the uterus and your doctor will need to perform a D&C or dilation and curettage procedure. This involves dilatating the cervix and removing the remaining tissues.
If the miscarriage happens later in the pregnancy and the fetus dies in the womb, a doctor will induce labour and deliver the fetus.
The miscarriage rate in South Africa is 9.6/1000. It is not possible to prevent miscarriage, but you can take care of yourself by:
If you have a chronic condition that may increase the risk to yourself or the baby, work closely with your doctor to keep it under control and mitigate any risks.