The medical term changes to ‘Clinical Pregnancy’ when a baby continues to develop normally however, a miscarriage can also occur before the fifth week of gestation, or within about a week of a missed period which, when it arrives, can be put down to a ‘late period’.  This is usually heavier than normal. 

Light bleeding. Pain similar to period pain. Cramps The nausea and tender breasts associated with pregnancy may disappear. A sense of no longer 'feeling' pregnant. About 40% of bleeding episodes occur during early pregnancy, usually at 5 to 7 weeks, and is spotting (normally dark blood) at about the time your period would have been due. Sometimes a small amount of blood is lost when the placenta matures at about 7 weeks and takes over the progesterone production. This can be frightening but is quite common and in most cases your pregnancy will continue as normal without harming the baby at all. These situations only lead to a miscarriage in 20% of cases. Sometimes, if the corpus luteum is not functioning properly and is therefore not making adequate amounts of progesterone, you will miscarry.

Sudden absence of 'morning sickness' and breast tenderness Intuitively no longer feel pregnant. Faintness and nausea and general feeling of being unwell. Pain is like bad period pain or birth contractions. Persistent heavy bleeding filling more than 1 sanitary pad in half an hour. Passing pieces of placenta which look like blood clots or liver. An unusual odour from the lost blood You may see the foetus. If your miscarriage is due to an incompetent cervix, (from 16 weeks on) everything will happen very quickly and your baby may be born alive. (This can later be treated by a cervical stitch to save future pregnancies)

incomplete miscarriage When some placenta remains inside the uterus you will probably experience fever and chills, pain or there is an odour. Check with your medical professional as you may have an infection which requires hospital treatment. Each hospital have there own policy which could be; wait and see monitoring, offer/require a scan, tablets to induce a normal delivery, sometimes suction is used along with scraping (this procedure can be uncomfortable, so pain medication or anesthetic medications are often used), or a dilation and curettage (D&C) operation requiring a general anesthetic and you may need to be hospitalised for a few hours or possibly stay overnight . Afterwards you could be given antibiotics and/or medication to minimise bleeding. If not treated, an incomplete miscarriage can make you very ill and may also have an effect on future pregnancies. The primary goal of treatment during and after a miscarriage is to prevent hemorrhaging and infection. Incomplete miscarriage occurs most commonly between 6 and 12 weeks of pregnancy.

complete miscarriage The earlier you are in the pregnancy, the more likely that your body will complete the miscarriage on its own. Once the uterus is empty the cervix closes, the pain stops and the bleeding slows down and should stop by seven days. N.B. See 'incomplete miscarriage’ above and Medical FAQ if you continue to bleed after that time.