Miscarriage

Miscarriage refers to the condition when a pregnancy is lost within a term of 24 weeks. Almost 25% of pregnancies end up in miscarriages. Over 80% of the miscarriages take place within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. A miscarriage can occur even before the woman becomes aware about her pregnancy. Most of the women, who have undergone a miscarriage, have a triumphal pregnancy the next time.

Symptoms of a Miscarriage

Some of the common symptoms of a miscarriage are:

• Vaginal discharge or bleeding – varies from mild spotting to being heavier that a regular period. Passing blood clots is quite common in this case. However, bleeding may not always result in a miscarriage.
• Abdominal pain and backache, just like the one during periods.
• Disappearances of sore breasts and nausea
• Sometimes, a woman may even discover a miscarriage while doing her routine scan. This happens if none of the symptoms occur and is known as a delayed or missed miscarriage.

Causes of a Miscarriage

Early miscarriages can be caused as a result of a chromosome being faulty – a genetic problem in the foetus that does not repeat in the following pregnancy or pregnancies. Many a times, the exact causes for a miscarriage remain unknown. Details are usually studied only if a woman has had three or more miscarriages, which happens to one in every hundred women.
A few other uncommon causes of a miscarriage include:

• Infections like listeria or rubella
• A weak cervix
• Abnormal womb
• Hormonal imbalance

Women who smoke are more prone to miscarriages. Age is a factor that is directly related to the chances of facing a miscarriage. It is a commonly believed myth that miscarriages are caused due to sex, eating spicy food, lack of rest, lifting, stress, usual routine exercise and constipation.
Treatment of a Miscarriage
Vaginal bleeding during pregnancy does not always mean that you are going to have a miscarriage, but is very important for your midwife or GP to know of the circumstances.
If at all a Miscarriage has taken place, it is impossible to prevent it by any kind of treatment. The doctor will only examine whether or not the miscarriage has occurred.
An ultrasound scan will be done, which illustrates the following:

• If the miscarriage has taken place
• If the baby is alive (by checking the heart beat)
• If there are any other reasons for the bleeding, such as in the case of an ectopic pregnancy
• A pregnancy test may also be performed to detect the presence of pregnancy hormones in the body system.
• After a miscarriage, usually no treatment is followed. The tissues of pregnancy naturally pass out, and the bleeding experienced stops in a few days. If the bleeding does not stop, a small operation to clean out the uterus is performed.
• Complications of Miscarriage
• If the bleeding has not stopped in about 8 – 10 days, an infection may have occurred, which is cured by taking antibiotics. Once the bleeding stops, it is safe to have sex. Your next period date should be around six weeks later. It is usually advised to plan your next pregnancy once you have had your first period.
• Many a times, a miscarriage leads to an emotional impact. Both, the husband and wife go through feelings of grief, loss, guilt, shock, distress, depression, anger and most of all loneliness. The best way to escape from these feelings is to talk about them to a close one, your GP or a counsellor. With time, these feelings tend to pass by.