The Mysteries of Miscarriage

 

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After a woman has miscarried two or more times, doctors may conduct tests of the woman and her partner (or of the miscarriage tissue) to detect chromosomal problems. They may also look for infection of the uterus. And blood tests can detect diabetes, autoimmune disease and hormone imbalance. About one in five women with recurrent miscarriage suffers from a clotting problem that can interfere with implantation; doctors can use blood thinners as treatment.
Many women who've suffered miscarriages think women should ask for a medical workup after a single loss. Darci Klein, founder of PreventPregnancyLoss.org and author of "To Full Term: A Mother's Triumph Over Miscarriage," lost three pregnancies (including a set of twins) before finding out through a blood test that she had a condition that resulted in abnormal clotting. She took a blood thinner--and delivered a healthy son. "The biggest cause of loss is that women aren't tested after suspicious miscarriage. That leaves women like me to lose pregnancy after pregnancy. Some of them stop trying." She considers factors like caffeine and cat litter "such a small part" of the miscarriage issue. "There may be a few people who cleaned a cat box every year who ended up having problems with their pregnancies," she says. "There are hundreds of thousands of women losing pregnancies to undiagnosed but treatable disorders."

Carrying twins or triplets increases the risk of miscarriage during that pregnancy. So do assisted reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization. With follicle-stimulating drugs called gonadotropins, we may be pushing eggs that are sitting dormant in the ovary to mature," says Dr. Mary Stephenson, director of the recurrent pregnancy loss program at the University of Chicago's Medical Center. "In IVF, we make more than one egg a cycle. Maybe those eggs, we just should have left them alone." Prenatal testing for chromosomal disorders like Down syndrome can also causes miscarriage--one in 300 procedures for amniocentesis and one in 100 for chorionic villus sampling (CVS).

Fortunately, there's more to avoiding miscarriage than living a life of, well, avoidance. Enjoy exercise and sex, which research shows do not increase the risk of miscarriage. The usual advice for women who've miscarried is to try again. "If you keep trying, the odds are in your favor," says Minkin. Try not to give in to guilt and blame. Sadly, pregnancy loss is incredibly common--and often mysterious. Says Kaiser Permanente pernatologist David Walton: "Women should consider one miscarriage just a normal event that happens during their reproductive life."

© 2008

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Member Comments

  • Posted By: JenniferCecelia @ 07/29/2009 10:51:10 AM

    If you believe that something will happen, then it is much more likely to TO HAPPEN. Geez, if you want to have a baby, then at least THINK AND BELIEVE AND TELL YOURSELF to at least a general extent THAT YOU WILL CONCEIVE THE BABY!

  • Posted By: Lene0428 @ 12/27/2008 2:31:34 PM

    As I read these articles about miscarriage it only confuses me more. In one year at age 17 I had 2 miscarriges. The first one was because i didn't realized i was pregnant on time and when i did go to have my first check up they said my baby had passed away. It was the worst thing that have ever happen to me. 4 months later I ended up being pregnant and It was so scary but i was so happy and waiting for this baby with so much joy. At nine weeks like the first one I was told i was going to have a miscarrige . i just couldn't believe it , its almost going to be a month and i still havent had the miscarrige, or any simptoms wich had given me dumb hope so i went to the doctor and they told me to wait. I just feel so empty and don't understand i don't cry like the first time i think I'm just in Shock, or i just can't believe it. the reason for my comment is just to find some one to help understand , i just think that when i do have the second miscarrige (which is going to happen) the only way to help me grief will be some answers or just a simple explanation to what a miscarrige really is. i would really appreciate it . my email is Marlenemily@yahoo.com who ever does end up reading this thanks for your time.

  • Posted By: GeorginaKlanica @ 10/21/2008 2:28:43 PM

    Has the miscarriage rate gone up simply because the OTC pregnancy tests have continually shrunk the time between conception and verifying the pregnancy?

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