Pregnancy loss
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Follow the links below to find trusted information about pregnancy loss.
Last reviewed: May 2018
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Pregnancy loss
Any pregnancy loss in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy is known as a miscarriage.
Read more on WA Health website
Early Pregnancy Loss - A booklet about pregnancy loss before 20 weeks, including miscarriage, ectopic and molar pregnancy
The death of a baby at any stage of pregnancy can be a very sad and distressing time. When a pregnancy loss occurs before 20 weeks, parents are often already busy preparing for a new life with their baby.
Read more on Sands Australia website
Types of miscarriage
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.
Read more on Pregnancy, Birth & Baby website
Miscarriage: a guide for men | Raising Children Network
This Dads Guide to Pregnancy covers miscarriage, the grief men might experience after miscarriage, and how to support partners after pregnancy loss.
Read more on Raising Children Network website
Loss and grief
Loss and grief is a normal aspect of pregnancy yet it is not often talked about. Holding a sense of loss and grief alongside joy can feel confusing.
Read more on Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia (PANDA) website
Life, Loss, Hope: Surviving the death of your baby
A book to support parents who are grieving the death of their baby
Read more on Sands Australia website
Losing weight after birth safely
Tips for losing weight after birth, including how to enjoy a healthy lifestyle, setting realistic goals, breastfeeding and weight loss and when to seek help.
Read more on Pregnancy, Birth & Baby website
Pregnancy and loss - NT.GOV.AU
Bereavement support organisations.
Read more on NT Health website
Miscarriage
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'.
Read more on Pregnancy, Birth & Baby website
Pregnancy - Pregnancy Topics - Threatened miscarriage
Bleeding in early pregnancy is very common. Sometimes the bleeding is an early sign of a miscarriage (loss of the pregnancy) or an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy. In most cases however, the pregnancy will proceed normally.
Read more on Women's and Children's Health Network website
Top results
Cervical stitch (cerclage) for preventing pregnancy loss in women | Cochrane
Cervical stitch (cerclage) may help prevent miscarriage due to a cervical factor, but has not been shown to benefit other women.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Second trimester serum tests for Down's Syndrome screening | Cochrane
Tests involving two or more markers in combination with maternal age are significantly more sensitive than those involving one marker. The value of combining four or more tests or including inhibin have not been proven to show statistically significant improvement. Further study is required to investigate reduced test performance in women aged over 35 and the impact of differential pregnancy loss on study findings.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Chinese herbal medicines for threatened miscarriage | Cochrane
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
Pregnancy and infant loss - Health professionals and community - Maternal Child & Family Health
HomeKids and FamiliesMaternal Child & Family HealthPregnancy and infant loss - Health professionals and community
Read more on NSW Health website
Chinese herbal medicines for unexplained recurrent miscarriage | Cochrane
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.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Human chorionic gonadotrophin hormone for preventing recurrent miscarriage | Cochrane
Miscarriage is the loss of a pregnancy before 24 weeks of gestation. Recurrent miscarriage (RM) is the loss of three or more consecutive pregnancies, which can cause significant physical and psychological harm with increased depression, anxiety and lowered self-esteem. RM can be linked to systemic maternal disease, such as diabetes mellitus, thyroid disease and polycystic ovary syndrome. In many cases, the cause of RM may remain unknown despite thorough investigations. Current strategies for preventing RM include the administration of hormones involved in maintaining pregnancy, one of which is human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG). This hormone is important for the continued production of progesterone from the corpus luteum and may have a role in the implantation of the embryo.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Bed rest during pregnancy for preventing miscarriage | Cochrane
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
Fertility and early pregnancy outcomes after treatment for cervical pre-cancer (cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia) | Cochrane
Fertility and early pregnancy outcomes after treatment for cervical pre-cancer (cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia)
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Expectant care (waiting) versus surgical treatment for miscarriage | Cochrane
Miscarriage is pregnancy failure before 14 weeks, which is common in early pregnancy. Such a loss in early pregnancy can affect a womans physical and mental health. Doctors often suggest surgery such as dilation and curettage (D and C) or vacuum aspiration to complete the process. Surgery might cause problems such as trauma, heavy bleeding, or infection. Expectant management means waiting for the miscarriage to finish on its own, and may involve bed rest, examination by ultrasound, and antibiotics. This review looked at whether expectant management works as well as surgery for miscarriage.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Using a cervical pessary to prevent preterm birth | Cochrane
Giving birth before term contributes to more than half of the deaths of newborn babies. Weakness of the cervix (the neck of the womb) and multiple pregnancy are common risk factors. Different management techniques have been tried including tightening the cervix with a stitch (cervical cerclage) to prevent its premature opening. Although it is a simple operation, cervical cerclage is invasive requiring anaesthesia and can have bleeding complications and cause infection and pregnancy loss. There is also controversy regarding the efficacy of cervical cerclage and the women who benefit most from this operation. Closing the cervix with a silicone ring (cervical pessary) that is removed at around 37 weeks is a simple, less invasive procedure that does not require anaesthesia and might replace the cervical stitch operation. To date, data obtained from one well-designed randomised clinical trial suggest that inserting a cervical pessary is superior to expectant management in the prevention of preterm birth in 385 women between 18 and 22 weeks of pregnancy. Neonatal paediatric care admission was reduced in the pessary group in comparison to the expectant group. These women had a singleton pregnancy and high risk of preterm birth because of the short length of the neck of the womb (cervix). Among the pessary group, 27 women needed pessary repositioning without removal and there was one case of pessary removal. Results of both the randomised trial and non-randomised trials show that pessary users complained of increased vaginal discharge. More studies are needed in different settings, with singleton and multiple pregnancies where the weakness of the cervix is from other causes, to confirm the results of the single trial included in this review. Some studies are ongoing.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
