What causes miscarriage?
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It is thought that most early miscarriages are caused by a a 'one-off' chromosome fault. This is usually an isolated genetic mistake, and rarely occurs again.
There are other less common causes of miscarriage including: hormonal imbalance; abnormalities of the womb; weakness of the cervix; certain infections like listeria and rubella.
Investigations into the cause of a miscarriage are not usually carried out unless you have 3 or more miscarriages in a row. This is because most women who miscarry will not miscarry again. Even two miscarriages are more likely to be due to chance than to some underlying cause.
Some wrong ideas about the cause of miscarriage?
After a miscarriage it is common to feel guilty and to blame the miscarriage on something you have done or failed to do. This is almost always not the case. In particular, miscarriage is not caused by lifting, straining or working, constipation or straining at the toilet, stress or worry, sex, eating spicy foods, or normal exercise. There are many such myths about the cause of miscarriage.
What is a 'threatened miscarriage'?
It is common to have some light vaginal bleeding sometime in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. This does not always mean that you are going to miscarry. Often the bleeding settles and the the growing baby is healthy. This is called a 'threatened' miscarriage. You do not usually have pain with a threatened miscarriage. If the pregnancy continues, there is no harm done to the baby.
In some cases, a threatened miscarriage progresses to a miscarriage.
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catherine, over 2 years
Hi i miscarried a few week ago. I went for routine 12 week scan and had slight spotting no pain. The feotus had died 6 week before and i had not shown any signs of miscarriage. I tried to miscarry naturally and had two days of intense bleeding, pain, clots which i didnt prepare myself for. I went back for a scan to find i had still got the sac inside left. i chose to have surgery that day and was awake within the hour felling great . I had slight bleeding, slight pain for a couple of days and my body getting back to normal. I wish id have had that done two weeks ago and not gone through what i did. i would recommend the surgery to anyone and it help set your body and uterus up for conceiving again. Hope this is of some help as i wish id have had more insight into the choices given. Take care Catherine
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belle , 5 months
I turned down the surgery as i didnt like the idea so i had the corses of tables which caused lots of pain but wasnt bleeding heavily and i had to wait for two weeks and take a test...if it wud have come bk positive meening there was things still there i wud have gone for surgery but luckily it all passed and the test came bk negative but the pains were horrific!
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