One of the most memorable moments for any couple is when they find out that they are pregnant. This is followed by a beautiful yet challenging journey of approximately 9 months in which the female partner undergoes a lot of physical changes and emotional ups and downs. For some, this journey is very smooth while for others it can be quite overwhelming as complications due to an underlying medical issue or some other reason can increase the risks of miscarriage and still-birth. The term miscarriage is no less than a nightmare for couples who are expecting or planning to conceive anytime soon. Also referred to as spontaneous abortion or pregnancy failure, miscarriage is the unintentional loss of pregnancy before 20 weeks of gestation. Fertility specialists suggest that nearly 15 to 20 per cent of pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion and most of these happen prior to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Top IVF specialists
suggest that miscarriage can be a result of many factors and sometimes, it can
happen during the initial weeks of pregnancy due to improper fertilization due
to which the fetal organs do not develop properly and stop functioning within a
few days. Well, we all know that one of the major signs of miscarriage is
unexplained vaginal bleeding. In fact, before the advent of procedures like
ultrasound, the problem was determined by bleeding only.
Miscarriage can be categorised in
the following ways:
·
Threatened miscarriage — Uterine
bleeding is experienced prior to 20 weeks of conception but the cervix is still
closed and there are traces of continual heart activity.
·
Inevitable abortion or miscarriage —
Uterine bleeding is experienced and the cervix is opening but the fetus and the
placenta are still inside i.e. have not passed out. The fetal membrane may or
may not be ruptured.
·
Incomplete miscarriage — A part of
the fetus, pregnancy sac or placenta is passed out along with the uterine blood
but some of it still remains inside.
·
Complete miscarriage — The fetus,
sac and placenta are expelled completely and the cervix also closes before 20
weeks.
·
Missed miscarriage — The fetus has
no heartbeat but hasn’t been expelled yet.
·
Recurrent miscarriage — As the name
suggests, the female is experiencing loss of pregnancy recurrently i.e. in a
row and is unable to carry the child to term.
·
Blighted ovum — The gestational sac
has formed inside the uterus but there are no traces of the fetus even in the 7th
week of the pregnancy.
It is pertinent to note that
miscarriage only refers to the loss of pregnancy prior to 20 weeks of
conception. Post 20 weeks, it is referred to as stillbirth.
Abnormalities in the fetal
chromosomes account for nearly 50 per cent of the cases of miscarriage. It is
not necessary that either of the parents show the traces of such abnormalities
as these might not be dominant in them. In such cases, miscarriage is
considered to be the body’s natural response to ending the pregnancy that is
not normal.
Dysfunctional uterus, cervix or
abnormalities in the internal structure of the associated organs can also lead
to miscarriage. Sometimes, the woman’s immune system reacts with the fetal
tissues resulting in miscarriage.
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