Understanding Miscarriage – Why it Happens and Why Not!
What is miscarriage?
A miscarriage is a pregnancy that ends spontaneously before 20 weeks of pregnancy, when the fetus has no chance of living independently outside the womb. After 20 weeks, pregnancy loss is considered a stillbirth. A fetus that survives into the third trimester (weeks 28 to 40 of pregnancy) has a chance of survival.
The medical term for miscarriage is spontaneous abortion, abbreviated as SAB. The medical term for repeated miscarriages is habitual abortion. Your medical caregivers must use this terminology for correct diagnosis, treatment, billing, and to comply with legal regulations. They do not intend to be offensive by using the term abortion with regard to your loss.
What does not cause miscarriage?
You will not lose a pregnancy through working outside your home, unless it is in a dangerous environment. Dangerous work environments include:
Farms that use insecticides and herbicides known to interfere with reproduction
Hospitals, especially sterilizers where the worker is exposed to ethylene oxide gas from 0.1 ppm to 250 ppm, laboratories, Nuclear Medicine, Radiology, and incinerator disposals
Food processing plants with incinerators that produce CHCs
Workplaces near a source of radiation that delivers more than 100 mSv during the pregnancy
You will not lose a pregnancy from moderate exercise.
You will not lose a fetus by having gentle sexual intercourse during your pregnancy.
The common cold or a yeast (candida) infection will not cause you to lose your baby.
If you have a pre-existing condition like thyroid disease or diabetes and are taking your medications as prescribed, you have a good chance of bringing your pregnancy successfully to term.
When is a miscarriage not a miscarriage?
You may not have actually had a miscarriage even when the signs suggest you have.
A blighted ovum means the gestational sac formed, but there is no baby in it. Your body may be slow to realize the absence because you have all the symptoms of a pregnancy, like nausea and tender breasts. Blighted ovum may only be discovered during an ultrasound.
A complete molar pregnancy means the sperm fertilized an empty egg, and no embryo formed. A partial molar pregnancy means two sperm fertilized the same egg, and only a little bit of placenta and embryo formed.
In these cases, you have not lost a child, but just the products of conception.
Why does miscarriage occur?
A pregnancy is most vulnerable during Weeks 7 to 13. Repeated miscarriages can result from problems with:
implantation;
genetics;
immune disorders;
physiology;
hormones;
toxin exposure;
lifestyle;
trauma;
the mothers age and
infections
The fetus is abnormal in 70% of miscarriages.
Implantation problems mean the couple conceives but the fertilized egg cannot implant safely in the uterus for a full-term pregnancy.
Miscarriage that occurs in the first trimester of pregnancy (Day 1 to Week 12) is most likely caused by a genetic disorder with the fetus. For example, Turners syndrome is a genetic disorder that terminates 98% of affected pregnancies in the first trimester.
Late miscarriage in the second trimester (4 to 6 months) can happen from problems with the immune system or physiological problems. Examples of immune system problems are:
Rh incompatibility, where the mother is Rh negative and the father and fetus are Rh positive. The mothers antibodies attack the fetus as a foreign invader.
Antiphospholipid antibodies that cause clots in the placenta. Between 10% and 15% of repeat miscarriages are caused by these antibodies, and the fetus often grows into the second trimester.
Lupus, where the womans overactive immune system attacks her body. ANA antibodies are present in the bloodstream.
Faulty fetal-blocking antibodies that cannot protect the baby from the mothers immune system when the parents DNA is too similar. Multiple miscarriages will likely occur at exactly the same time each pregnancy, usually before Week 12.
Examples of physiological (mechanical) problems are:
Uterine fibroid tumors – Although they are benign (non-cancerous), fibroids can crowd out a pregnancy. Submucosal fibroids act like an IUD contraceptive to prevent the egg from implanting in the uterus.
Ectopic (tubal) pregnancy – In 2% of pregnancies, the egg does not implant in the uterus, but stays in the fallopian tube, which ruptures when the embryo outgrows it.
Incompetent cervix – In 1 out of every 100 pregnancies, the mother has a weak cervix due to a previous difficult delivery or miscarriage, or cervical surgery, D&C termination, birth defect, or exposure to DES (Diethylstilbestrol). The cervix is weak and opens before the fetus can survive outside the mothers body, usually in the second trimester (Weeks 13 to 27 of pregnancy) or third trimester (Weeks 28 to delivery). One-quarter of babies lost in the second trimester are due to incompetent cervix.
Placenta previa – The placenta grows over the cervical opening and will tear in the second trimester.
Progesterone deficiency is a hormonal problem where the pregnancy cannot be sustained past the tenth week without progesterone supplements (natural progesterone cream is available online from http://www.hormonesolutions.com.au. Check with your doctor.
Toxin exposure is likely to cause miscarriage. If you live or work near the flue gases of incinerators you are exposed to chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHC) that cause endometriosis, habitual abortion, and birth defects. CHCs are stored in body fat. Hospital and food processing workers are likely to be exposed. Women who receive radiation exposure greater than 100 mSv can miscarry, and exposure greater than 10 mSv makes the child prone to cancer. Farm workers with chronic occupational exposure to herbicides and insecticides have difficulty reproducing because of low sperm counts, and have double the chance of birthing an infant missing a limb than the rest of the population. If you are experiencing reproductive difficulty, find out if your farm uses these agricultural herbicides and insecticides: Aldicarb; arsenic compounded with copper and lead; carbofuran; dinitrocresols; dinitrocresols; dinoterb; drazoxolon; endosulfan; endothal; fentin; mercuric chloride; mercury methyls, nitrobenzenes, oxydematon-methyl, and thiofanox.
A healthy lifestyle is crucial for maintaining your pregnancy. Women who are malnourished or diet excessively have difficulty maintaining a pregnancy. Smokers, drug users, women who drink more than two alcoholic beverages daily, and heavy coffee drinkers (more than 200 milligrams of caffeine per day) tend to miscarry more frequently.
Trauma rarely causes a miscarriage because the baby is well cushioned and insulated by the amniotic fluid and the mothers body. Only 1,300 to 13,000 fetal deaths result per year in the U.S.A. from maternal injury in motor vehicle collisions. When trauma is sufficiently severe, it can cause premature rupture of the membranes (PROM) or abruptio placenta, where the placenta detaches from the wall of the uterus and severe bleeding occurs.
Extremes of age affect pregnancy outcome. Girls under 15 have a tripled risk of neonatal death. Girls over 15 only have a 20% chance of miscarriage, providing they receive adequate prenatal care. A teenager is still growing, so the calcium diverted to her pregnancy softens her bones (osteoporosis). Women who delay pregnancy past the age of 30 are most likely to have problems conceiving and carrying a pregnancy to full term. If you are younger than 35, you have a 15% chance of miscarriage. If you are 35 to 45 years old, you have a 20% to 35% chance of miscarriage. If you are 45, you a 50% chance of miscarriage. Women 46 and older have a 74.7% chance of miscarriage. Although you and your husband may be healthy, eggs (ova) and sperm deteriorate with age.
Infections such as malaria, syphilis, toxoplasmosis, mycoplasma, fifth disease, and chicken pox can cause miscarriage.
This article is copyrighted by Lance Chambers You are at liberty to copy and distribute it as long as no changes are to the content and this bio is included.
