what
is miscarriage?
There are high social expectations and strong cultural beliefs about it being our right to our own choice of when to have a baby (choice = empowerment) and that the pregnancy will end in a healthy, normal, live birth. Medical professionals do not usually talk/warn about miscarriage to their patients. So, because of the development of ways to confirm pregnancies earlier which can involve a scan and women seeing their baby, bonding also occurs earlier too. When a miscarriage happens unexpectedly, it can be a shocking end to the dreams and expectations of the woman and her partner.
The World Health Organisation defines miscarriage as ‘the spontaneous abortion of an embryo or fetus weighing 500 grams or less, which typically corresponds to a fetal gestational age of 20 to 22 weeks or less’. Miscarriage in New Zealand is defined as a pregnancy that ends spontaneously before 20 weeks, the baby not usually being born alive and weighing under 400g.
Miscarriage affects one in every four women. The highest risk
period is between 4 and 6 weeks. Once 8 or 9 weeks are reached and the
baby's heart beat is seen on a scan there is only a 4% to 5% chance of
miscarriage, depending on the speed of the heart-beat. It should be 120
to 160 times per minute. (BMP) The risk then drops to between 5% and
8% and continues to drop as the pregnancy proceeds.
99% of foetal deaths occur in the first 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy (1st trimester), although the actual miscarriage may not happen for some weeks after the baby dies. Medically this is called a ‘missed
abortion’. (The baby is an “embryo” to the 8th week and a “foetus” after that.)
The chance of losing a first pregnancy is greater than later ones.
What happens during miscarriage?
The symptoms you experience will depend on the
cause of the miscarriage and how advanced the pregnancy is/was so may
take hours, days or even weeks to complete. Usually the foetus, placenta
and blood from the uterus leave the body through the vagina. You may discover
during a routine scan that there is no heartbeat, or even an empty foetal
sac. Usually, by the time bleeding begins your baby has already died,
unless it is around the 6 weeks period when only a small amount of blood
is lost and then there is an 80% your baby will be fine (see 'threatening
miscarriage’).
Loading
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
miscarriage
what is a miscarriage?
types of miscarriage
miscarriage at home
miscarriage at hospital (D&C)
why miscarriages happen
scans
medical FAQ
parents rights
things we may not know
infrequent conditions
molar pregnancy
ectopic pregnancy
vanishing twin syndrome
recurrent miscarriage
testing for (RPL)
miscarriage
what
is miscarriage?
types of miscarriage
miscarriage at home
miscarriage at hospital (D&C)
why miscarriages happen
scans
medical FAQ
parents
rights
things we may not know
infrequent conditions
molar pregnancy
ectopic pregnancy
vanishing twin syndrome
recurrent
miscarriage (RPL)
testing
for RPL
what
is miscarriage?types of miscarriage miscarriage at homemiscarriage at hospital (D&C)why miscarriages happenscans medical FAQ parents
rights things we may not knowinfrequent conditions
molar pregnancyectopic pregnancy vanishing twin syndromerecurrent
miscarriage (RPL)testing
for RPL
