Miscarriage in Early Pregnancy

According to medical researches, majority of the miscarriages occur in early pregnancy, i.e. in the first trimester. A miscarriage can be a very painful experience for any woman, provided she realized in the first place that she was pregnant. Chemical pregnancies, in which the loss of the pregnancy occurs even before the implantation of the fertilized egg in the endometrium lining can take place, are a very common occurrence and many a time produce no symptoms at all. Besides a chemical pregnancy, there are two other types of miscarriages in early pregnancy, namely a missed miscarriage, in which the baby does not grow beyond a particular stage and a blighted ovum, in which a gestational sac is present in a woman, but there is no baby. Below are the reasons why miscarriage takes place, followed by the symptoms and treatments for the same.

Causes

• The main reason why a miscarriage might occur in early pregnancy is an abnormality in the chromosomes of the baby. This defect in chromosomes can occur on account of various reasons, such as a fault in the fertilized egg or in the sperm cells, improper implantation of the egg in the uterus lining, age of the pregnant woman, etc.
• A number of health conditions and illnesses, if present in the pregnant woman can hamper with a normal pregnancy. If the woman has diabetes or a kidney disease or disorders such as Lupus, she can suffer from a miscarriage.
• Hormonal imbalances in the woman are another reason behind early pregnancy miscarriage.
• Any injury or trauma experienced by a woman, due to an accident or a fall can affect the growing fetus and the woman might have a miscarriage because of it.
• If the woman takes illegal drugs or drinks alcohol or smokes in excess, it can lead to a miscarriage.

Symptoms

A pain in the pelvic region and the back, cramping in the stomach leading to breathing difficulties, accompanied by vaginal bleeding, are some of the signs experienced by women. Some other symptoms are - frequently experienced painful contractions, a mucus discharge which is pinkish or whitish in color, disappearance of the pregnancy symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, morning sickness, etc. and finally vaginal discharge of tissues and blood clots. If a woman is experiencing these symptoms, she should go in for a blood test. If the blood test shows falling hCG levels, it is confirmed that there has been a miscarriage.

Treatment and Prevention

If the miscarriage has occurred very early in pregnancy, then body will itself get rid of the fetal tissue and hence, no treatment will be required. Otherwise, a procedure called Dilation and Curettage, is performed by the doctors to take out the fetal tissue and to stop any accompanying bleeding. Besides these medical procedures, a woman might need emotional therapy as well, to cope with the loss.

Although avoiding miscarriage, in most cases, is not in the hands of the woman, because there is nothing she can do to fix genetic problems or chromosomal abnormalities, which are the main causes behind miscarriage in majority of cases. Yet certain miscarriages are avoidable if a woman takes certain precautions. If a woman wants to know how to prevent miscarriage, she should simply follow a healthy lifestyle by eating a healthy diet, exercising everyday, following various relaxation techniques to keep calm and manage stress, by refraining from alcohol and smoking, by keeping her abdomen safe and by avoiding any kind of drugs or medication, unless and until prescribed by the doctors.

Having suffered a miscarriage in early pregnancy, can take a toll on a woman's physical and emotional health. Hence, before planning to conceive again, a woman should see to it that she is in the best of health and is taking all the above mentioned precautions, to ensure a safer pregnancy the next time.