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Last reviewed: July 2016
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A miscarriage refers to the loss of a baby during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. The majority of miscarriages occur in the early stages of pregnancy, mostly during the first three months of pregnancy or 'first trimester'.
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Many parents we spoke to experienced miscarriage. Some had a single miscarriage, while others experienced two or more (multiple miscarriage).
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Sands Australia: Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Newborn Death
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Unfortunately, nothing can prevent a miscarriage from happening once it has started. How it is treated will depend on the type of miscarriage.
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Causes of miscarriage: Miscarriages are devastating and there are a number of possible reasons that a miscarriage may occur.
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A miscarriage is the unintended ending of a pregnancy. Many pregnanies end ina miscarriage - about 15 to 20 percent (about 1 in 5) of recognised pregnancies - most often in the early weeks of pregnancy, but sometimes later in the pregnancy.
Read more on Women's and Children's Health Network website
A miscarriage can occur suddenly or over a number of weeks. Find out what the signs of miscarriage are and advice on what you should do.
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Miscarriage is a pregnancy that ends spontaneously before 20 weeks. Miscarriage is very common and usually occurs in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
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Pregnant women are being warned not to start taking vitamin B3 supplements, despite a recent study that suggests it might reduce the risk of miscarriages and birth defects.
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There are several types of miscarriage – threatened, inevitable, complete, incomplete or missed. There are also other types of pregnancy loss such as ectopic, molar pregnancy and a blighted ovum.
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Dopamine agonists for preventing future miscarriage in women with high prolactin levels and a history of recurrent miscarriage
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We could not find any evidence from randomized controlled trials that progestogen beginning in the first trimester of pregnancy can generally prevent miscarriage.
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Recurrent miscarriage is three or more consecutive early miscarriages. One theory is that for some women, this might be caused by an immune system response to the embryo or fetus. Therapies that try to immunize the woman against the 'foreign' cells of a future pregnancy have been tried. Immunotherapies have included white blood cells (leukocytes) from the woman's partner or a donor, products derived from early embryos (trophoblast membranes), or antibodies derived from blood (immunoglobulin).
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Recurrent miscarriage has been defined as two, three, or more consecutive spontaneous miscarriages in early pregnancy, and affects a small number (1% to 3%) of women of reproductive age. Many pregnant women may not recognise a miscarriage until they experience uterine bleeding and cramping after the 10th week of pregnancy. There are risks of repeat miscarriages after the first pregnancy loss and the chance of having a successful pregnancy varies. Some recurrent miscarriages have underlying causes, including both maternal and fetal factors; specific treatments targeting these causes are effective. However, the underlying causes may not be identified and most recurrent miscarriage are unexplained. There is no universal recommendation for the treatment of unexplained recurrent miscarriage. Chinese herbal medicines have been widely used in Asian countries for centuries and have become a popular alternative therapy in Western countries in recent years. Many clinical studies have reported that Chinese herbal medicines can improve pregnancy and live birth rates by preventing miscarriage and promoting the continuation of pregnancy.
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Miscarriage is the loss of a baby before 23 weeks of pregnancy and this can cause much distress for parents. The most common treatment used to prevent it is probably bed rest. The review of two trials, involving 84 women, found that there was not enough evidence from good quality studies to be able to say whether bed rest helps to prevent miscarriage or not. Care for women at increased risk of miscarriage needs to be offered according to their individual needs.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the loss of a pregnancy without medical or mechanical means before completion of the 20th week of gestation. The fetus is not sufficiently developed to have been able to survive outside the mothers womb. Threatened miscarriage is a very common in early pregnancy. Most threatened miscarriages occur in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and become evident as vaginal bleeding, abdominal and low back pain that persist for days or weeks. So far, therapies have limited effectiveness in preventing early pregnancy loss due to threatened miscarriage. Chinese herbal medicines are a part of Traditional Chinese Medicines and are made up of products from plants and some animal and mineral substances. They have become very popular and are commonly used as an alternative treatment for threatened miscarriage.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Not enough evidence to say if drugs that relax the muscles of the uterus can prevent threatened miscarriage.
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Threatened miscarriage is a term used when a woman who is less than 24 weeks pregnant with a live baby experiences bleeding. The mother has vaginal bleeding, with or without abdominal pain and cramps, but the cervix is closed. Miscarriage is a source of great physical and psychological distress and is very common. Causes include chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus, when the mother is older, has uterine or endocrine abnormalities or has polycystic ovarian syndrome. Human chorionic gonadotrophin (also called hCG) is a hormone produced by the placenta and is known to help maintain the pregnancy. Hence there has been much interest in the use of hCG for treating threatened miscarriage with the aim of preserving the pregnancy.This review of three trials (including 312 participants), one of which was of poor quality, found no evidence that hCG can be used as effective treatment for threatened miscarriage. There was no report on adverse effects of hCG on the mother or baby. More good-quality research is needed to study the impact of hCG on miscarriage.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Aspirin and/or heparin for women with unexplained recurrent miscarriage with or without inherited thrombophilia
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Sands Australia: Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Newborn Death
Read more on Sands Australia website
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