A miscarriage is defined as the spontaneous termination of a pregnancy. The chances of a miscarriage are higher in first pregnancies than in later ones. A miscarriage occurs outside the control of the expectant mother. For the mother, there are several painful and unpleasant physical effects, which include significant vaginal bleeding and the passing of large clots.
Emotional
effects include either parent feeling a
state of loss, emptiness, guilt, or failure. An experience like a miscarriage can cause either partner
to question their faith or stray from their spiritual foundation. They
may ask a question like, "If there is a God, how could He have let this
happen to us?” Here's what you need to know to minimize your risk with a
miscarriage, and if should happen to move past it:
1.
Fertility
treatments may raise your risk: It’s probably a
small increase, and it may be hard to determine if it's due to the treatments
or to other factors. Manny women undergoing fertility treatment are older, or
have other conditions that affect fertility. If you're 40 and trying to get
pregnant, you'll have a better chance of
carrying a baby to term if you use a donor egg from a younger woman.
2.
It's not the
mother's fault: Most miscarriages occur because of
genetic abnormalities in the embryo. There's really no way to predict or
prevent them. They just happen.
3.
Miscarriage
happens early in pregnancy: A
miscarriage is a pregnancy lost before 20 weeks, but almost all miscarriages
occur before the 12-week mark. (That's why expecting parents are often told to
wait until the second trimester to start spreading the news.) A pregnancy lost
after 20 weeks is usually referred to as stillbirth.
4.
Miscarriage
happens more often than you think:
The figure often cited is that about 15% of pregnancies end in miscarriage,
which is also called "early pregnancy loss." But with the
extra-sensitive, early-response pregnancy tests available these days, that
number may be as high as 30% of all pregnancies.
5.
Older women are
more likely to miscarry: Miscarriages
become even more common as women get older. That's because as
eggs age, the chances of genetic
abnormalities increase.
6.
One miscarriage
doesn't mean you'll have more:
Many women who've had a miscarriage go on to have one or more children. In
fact, doctors usually don't look for an underlying reason for miscarriage until
you've had two or more.
7.
Sex doesn't
cause it: You've likely heard the old wives'
tale that intercourse can increase the risk of losing a baby. It doesn't.
Neither does exercise nor continuing to work,
8.
Smoking is a
known risk factor: Women who smoke have a higher
chance of miscarriage so add this to the long list of reasons not to smoke
whether you're pregnant or not.
9.
You may not
know you've miscarried: You can miscarry within the first 10
days of conception and not even recognize that you've had a pregnancy loss. You may think it's just a period. Bleeding is a
common symptom of miscarriage as is severe cramping. If you have either symptom
and you know you're pregnant, see a doctor or go to the emergency room to avoid
two possible complications of miscarriage: hemorrhage and infection.
10.
Your weight
matters: Being too thin or overweight can
both increase the risk of a miscarriage. Diabetes, a common complication of obesity,
can also increase the risk, but only if the condition is poorly controlled.
Women who are checking their blood sugar and it’s in a normal range have a risk
no different than someone who doesn't have diabetes,
“If I had lost a leg I would
tell them, instead of a boy no one would ever ask me if I was 'over it'. They
would ask me how I was doing learning to walk without my leg. I was learning to
walk and to breathe and to live without Wade. And what I was learning is that
it was never going to be the life I had before.” (Elizabeth Edwards) [i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“11 Things You Didn't Know About Miscarriage” by Amanda Gardner
·
“Dealing with Miscarriage as a Father” by Wayne
Parker
This
post is dedicated to my wife, Bobbi, who has been through eight miscarriages.
No comments:
Post a Comment