Miscarriage Archives - Life with Gremlins

Pregnancy After Miscarriage

If you’ve previously had a miscarriage and conceived again, its pretty normal to worry you may lose another. Miscarriage ruins the innocence of pregnancy. Prior to my losses, I’d had three healthy pregnancies. It honestly never occurred to me a pregnancy could end in anything but a baby in 9 or so months. After two back-to-back losses, I spent pretty much my entire pregnancy after miscarriage worrying. In fact, even now that my rainbow baby has been born, I still worry I’ll lose her somehow–something that never really crossed my mind with my first three.

As far as my pregnancy, those first 12 weeks where the risk of miscarriage is highest were torture. For me, it helped to see those weeks as stages with small victories.

Miscarriage statistics by week are as follows:

Note, these are general statistics based on fetal age and may vary by your age and health.

Week 1: At this point, you wouldn’t even know you were pregnant. Your chance of miscarriage is 75 percent.

Week 2: You may get a positive test, and then have your period. This is commonly called a “chemical pregnancy” as the egg never really sets up shop in the uterus. Your chance of miscarriage is 30 percent.

Week 3 to 6: By now, the egg has implanted, and you’ll have missed your period. Your miscarriage chance is now down to 10 percent.

Week 7 to 12: Your risk remains at 10 percent until you have heard or seen a heartbeat. The heart begins to beat sometime between week 6 and 7 in most cases. After a heartbeat is detected, your chance of a miscarriage is only 5 percent.

Week 12 to 20: Second trimester losses are far less common. Your chance of miscarriage is only 3 percent.

Week 20+: After 20 weeks a loss is technically deemed a still birth. Still births come with a risk of about 1 percent.

As you can see, after you’ve seen a heartbeat, the major risk of miscarriage has passed. By week 12, you can usually relax unless you’ve had complications which place your pregnancy at high risk.

Week 23: Preterm viability begins at 23 weeks, though few babies survive at this age.

Week 28: Survival rates rise to 80%, though many babies born between 24 and 28 weeks have lasting effects.

Week 32: This is the magic number. Babies born at or around 32 weeks and onward generally have no lasting effects from preterm labor and the survival rate is nearly 100%.

How can I ease the worry during my pregnancy after miscarriage?

-Continue basal body temping: I must caution do NOT stress any day where a temp is lower or even below the cover line. The goal of basal body temping during a pregnancy after a miscarriage is to watch for a trend of low temperatures. For example, if you’ve had three temperatures under the cover line and spotting, there may be reason to worry. Basal body temperature will tell you if your progesterone levels are elevated, which is essential to a healthy pregnancy in the first trimester, seeing those high temps can be particularly reassuring.

-Put down the pee sticks. Please. HPT darkness can be affected by all sorts of things. Testing every day and worrying over a slightly lighter line will do you no good.

-Purchase a Doppler after week 8. I specify after week 8, but week 9 may even be a better bet. Home dopplers will not pick up a heartbeat at 6 weeks, even if it’s there. It’s exceptionally uncommon for a home Doppler to find a heartbeat at 7 weeks. Thin women may have luck in week 8 or 9, and curvier women may have to wait until week 10 or 13 even. I support the purchase of a Doppler, because it allows you to actively check on your baby. It really only helps with about 2 weeks of worrying at best, but can also be reassuring in the second trimester. Keep in mind that you should not use a Doppler more than once a week. While home Dopplers are “safe,” there is insufficient research on prolonged and excessive use to determine if using one every day, for example, may be unsafe. You can purchase a doppler online for around $50. I even used mine on days later in my pregnancy when my wee one wasn’t very active, and I got worried.

Unfortunately, no matter what you do chances are you’re gonna worry. Try your best to relax and keep in mind that you didn’t do anything to cause your last loss, and if its going to happen no amount of worrying will change that.

Multiple Miscarriages: A Look at Recurrent Miscarriage Statistics

6 months after my first miscarriage, I had another. I was dumbfounded. I had three previous problem-free healthy pregnancies that went beyond full term, and I was only 28. If you’ve suffered multiple miscarriages, often referred to as “recurrent miscarriage” when the loss number reaches three, I know whether or not your next pregnancy will end in miscarriage is at the forefront of your mind. Part of you wants to try again so very badly, and another part is terrified that it will be a fruitless endeavor wrought with pain-again. The question is: what are your odds?

What are the chances of multiple miscarriages?

Think of getting pregnant like the roll of a dice. The chance you’ll roll a 1 is 1 in 6 on that first roll, but if you roll again probability starts to come into play, your chances just got higher. This is true when it comes to miscarriage. On that first roll, around 10 and 25 percent of women miscarry depending on age. On that second roll, only about 5 percent of women miscarry a second consecutive time. Of the unlucky 5 percent of women that have to roll a third time, only 1 percent miscarry. Once you’ve had three consecutive miscarriages, it’s safe to assume someone’s cheating, and you should seek medical testing to determine if there is an underlying cause. Unfortunately, most medical professionals will not actually do any testing before this point.

What are the chances of a successful pregnancy after multiple miscarriages?

Now, this is where things get confusing. While only 5 percent of women suffer two consecutive miscarriages, the chances of a successful pregnancy after one miscarriage is 90 percent, and while only 1 percent of women suffer three consecutive miscarriages, the chance of a successful pregnancy after two losses is 75 percent. The chance of a successful pregnancy after three losses is even lower at 65 percent, and lower still after 4 losses at 55 percent. How does that work? One statistic is looking at the overall probability weighed against all pregnancy data. Of all pregnant women only 1 percent of those miscarried three times in a row. The other statistic looks at rates of miscarriage within categories. A woman in the category of “two consecutive losses” has a 25 percent chance of miscarrying again (75 percent chance of a successful pregnancy).

So, does a miscarriage increase your risk of miscarriage?

Not exactly. The reason that your chances of a successful pregnancy decrease as you have more miscarriages is that the chance that you’re getting a fair roll decreases. For example, after one miscarriage it’s likely that it was just bad luck. Something went wrong on a genetic level and nothing could have been done to prevent it. You just rolled a 1. However, after three losses, chances are far higher there is an underlying cause such as poor egg quality, unusual uterine shape, or other health issues. You had a weighted dice and just didn’t know it until you kept rolling 1’s. Bad analogy aside, the cut and dry?

Your chances of consecutive miscarriage are low, and get lower the more losses you suffer, unless you have an underlying health issue, which can lead to the appearance of higher rates of loss in women who have had more losses. Sadly, you won’t know if you have an underlying health issue until three losses, and even then many women never find the cause. I had two losses, then a beautiful baby girl this month.

Trying to Conceive After Miscarriage: FAQ and Tips

Oddly, after my miscarriages I was actually really anxious to begin trying again. My losses made me want a baby even more than I did before. However, after my first miscarriage, I had a lot of questions about trying to conceive after a miscarriage. The final step in my miscarriage journey was to research trying again. I spoke with my midwife as well as other women who had suffered losses to create this FAQ for other women in my position.

How long will I bleeding after my miscarriage?

This is one area where talking to other women that have suffered losses really helped. The length of bleeding after a miscarriage seemed to vary by the week in which the loss occurred with early losses equating to less bleeding, and late losses to more bleeding. Generally, however, the bleeding should stop within 2 weeks of the passage of tissue. If your bleeding continues, you should contact your health care provider as this can be a sign of retained tissue.

When will I get my period after miscarriage and ovulate?

Based on those same interviews with women who have suffered miscarriage, return of menstruation and ovulation also really varies on the type of loss suffered, and the week of pregnancy it occurred. Generally, the earlier the loss the quicker the return of menses and ovulation. Natural losses, which usually take longer than say a D&C, also usually result in a quicker return to normal after the bleeding has stopped. This makes sense, being to ovulate after a miscarriage your hCG levels must reach 0. In early losses hCG is lower, and with a natural loss it has usually had more time to decrease before the actual miscarriage itself. You may have a “wonky” cycle just after your loss with early or late ovulation, irregular bleeding, spotting, unusual basal body readings, and other symptoms of hormonal imbalance. In most cases, the second cycle after a miscarriage is far more normalized.

How soon can I try to become pregnant after a miscarriage?

The experts argue on this one, you’ll find citation supporting everything from immediately after to wait an entire year. In my opinion, it is more a matter of your emotional state. Are you ready to try again after a miscarriage? When you are, it’s been long enough. From a medical standpoint, it may make sense to wait at least a cycle, however. This gives your uterine lining time to restore entirely and your hormones time to balance. This may not be necessary if you suffered a particularly early loss (before week 5).

Your next question is how likely are you to have another miscarriage?

Other articles in this series:
Missed Miscarriage or Misdiagnosis?
How Do I Know If I’m Miscarrying?
Miscarriage Bereavement