talkhealth forums

On behalf of Sarah:

I'm in my early 30's and have become pregnant for the third time. I miscarried on my first 2 at 6 and 8 weeks and am obviously concerned that it will happen again. What is the likelihood of this and is there anything I can do to try and stop it from happening? Thank you for your time.

Dear Sarah

I am sorry to hear that you have 3 miscarriages. First I would like to reassure you that you will have good chance for a healthy pregnancy next time by 75%

Please start folic acid from now.
If you are overweight, healthy life style and weight loss is a priority (Ideal BMI is less than 30)
After 3 miscarriages,I recommend investigations like pelvic ultrasound/ Ovarian reserve test like FSH/ and antiphospholipid investigations

I wish you all the best in the future

Mr R Faraj
www.faraj-gynaecology.co.uk

Hello
I too am very sorry to hear about your 2 early miscarriages but as mentioned already you still have a very good chance of a successful pregnancy this time. Unfortunately miscarriage is very common, everyone knows about the lady down the road who's had a healthy baby but, understandably miscarriage is a very personal and devastating thing to happen and often not talked about. Early miscarriages are often due to a problem right at the beginning of pregnancy (abnormal fertilisation/implantation, chromosomal abnormality etc) early foetal development is very complicated and can often go wrong which is why generally women aren't 'investigated' for recurrent miscarriage until they've had at least 3. It's is quite unusual to find a cause for recurrent miscarriage but there is a whole battery of tests that can be done including anti phospholipid and anti cardiolipin antibodies, chromosomal analysis, thyroid and glucose tests and scans on the womb to exclude abnormalities. Hopefully non of this will be necessary and you'll have a healthy baby this time, apart from general advice, folic acid, healthy weight (as previously mentioned), stop smoking, abstain from alcohol, trying not to get too stressed (easier said than done!) there's nothing more specific you can do. At 12 weeks you can probably breathe a sigh of relief as your over the most 'risky time' for your pregnancy, good luck