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Thanks you so much for stats! This is EXACTLY what I have been looking for, searching through websites for days. I appreciate your information. I am 6 weeks 5 days- keep your fingers crossed for me!

Fingers absolutely crossed.

I am 27 years old and have had three first trimester miscarriages in two years (no children). The only thing my RE has been able to tell me is it’s “bad luck”. I know for sure the 2nd one was a random genetic problem. Could I really be this unlucky???

Fire your RE.

Three losses in a row is not a matter of luck whatsoever. I’m sorry he has been so insensitive to your losses and not advocating finding the problem and solving it, holding your hand along the way with comfort and strength. How difficult these last two years must have been!

Yes, something is wrong, but yes, you will find a doctor to help you traverse these difficult waters. Most reproduction problems can be overcome, even at great trial and fear, but you will get there, and your journey to parenthood, while not easy or rosy or simple, will be nonetheless as joyful, and you will learn the compassion and toughness you have gathered through the process will make you not just good parents, but the best parents.

Let me know how you are.

Thank for these stats. having suffered thru infertility, I am very anxious with this pregnancy. I recently saw my miracle’s heart beating during our first U/S and I’m trying desperately to calm myself down and think positive. These stats have helped me easy my worries. Thanks.

I am so scared. I was young when I had 2 miscarriages and then I had my son. (8 years ago). Soon after my son was born I divorced and then remarried a year later. So my new and wonderful husband who is 23 and I am 26 decided to try to conceive a child. For the past 2 years (at least) we have really been ttc. I got pregnant in February and had another miscarriage in March 2008. This was SOOO hard on the both of us because we planned and were joyful about this. My doctor gave us a HCG and gave him a semen analysis and all bloodwork came out normal. The doctor said just keep trying that there was nothing that he could point out that would be causing us to be infertile. We make love at least every other day if not every day. This seems so hard. What do you suggest that would be our next step?

i meant a hystosalpingogram not a HCG

Leslie,

I am so sorry you have gone through such a heartbreaking experience yet again.

Since you have a healthy child and this happened after experiencing miscarriages before, your doctor is correct. The only true solution is to try again. I’m not really sure why he even did the tests he did–a single miscarriage would not indicate any sort of problem, especially since you did get pregnant, which would eliminate a serious fertility issue.

Some women are more prone to blighted ovum, where the fertilized egg does not seem to grow into a baby. But they also go on to have healthy babies in between the losses. This could be due to some chemical or environmental exposure that damaged a number of eggs, or it could be a transient hormone issue that simply does not affect every cycle or pregnancy. I would guess the latter.

The best solution is to keep trying, to hold on to your faith, your hope, and each other. You have many long years of fertility ahead of you, so gather your courage and keep working on your dream of another child.

I have recently suffered two miscarriages in 7 months after having two live births. My son is 6 and my daughter just turned 4. I can not understand what the problem is We saw the heartbeat on the last one i lost twice and the baby was doing great and doubling in size every two weeks!!

Also, I forgot to mention I had to have D&C both times because the the first baby died at 6 weeks but I did not find out until 11 weeks. The second baby died at 9 wks 5 days , but there again, I was 11 weeks along. Both times I have not had any symptoms of Miscarriage. This last time I had a D&C, I had to be rushed to the ER 4 days later after passing huge clots and my DR rushed me up to the OR and had to do another D&C because my uterus was so full of clots!!!!! So, technically I have had 3 D&Cs in 7 months. I am going to a Perinatologist Monday to have some testing done to see if there is a problem before we try again. I am really scared right now. Please pray for us!!!

I am curious. If you have had a miscarriage in the past before 8 weeks and just saw a heartbeat at 7 weeks and 1 day, what are your loss statistics? are they 5% or higher since you did have a miscarriage prior??

Deanna, thank you for putting together these stats. I’m currently on my 3rd pregnancy (no live births). The first was at 4-5 weeks, termed a chemical pregnancy. The 2nd happened at 10.5 weeks, although the baby died at 8.5 weeks after we saw a slow heartbeat…I’m still getting over this one…I should have had Baby Stone last week. I’ll be 13 weeks tomorrow…all looks to be on target…I’m still scared. Mine and my husband’s family don’t understand why I’m not excited yet. They all seem to think that since I’m pregnant again and past the point of the last miscarriage that I should be happy. Well, after miscarriage, pregnancy isn’t a walk in the park! I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed for this one!

Sorry to hear of everyones loses.. you never truly know what or how to feel unless a miscarriage happens to you.. I have had 2 miscarriages in the past 10 months. The first was trisomy 16 a boy, I lost at 10.5 weeks… the second also a boy, nothing genetically wrong I lost at 12 weeks 1 day. I also have a beautiful little girl who is now 3 and a bit.. the advice I have been given is to never give up.. because little miracles happen every day!!! So we are just waiting for the all clear from the gyno to start trying again.. so to all the parents out there with empty arms.. keep your heads up and keep on trying even if it is hard… because you will hold a newborn in your arms one day soon.. trust in that.. I sure do!!!

Hi everyone,

I recently had a stillborn birth on July 5th at 11:50 PM. I was induced into labor. My son, Timothy Michael Ho, was 31 weeks and four days. He was 3.3 lbs and 15.5 inches tall. It’s so infortunate and painful for me and my family. I have one healthy little three year old daughter. I am so unfortunate to have experience such a loss. I blame myself and no one else. I feel terrible that life would give us a baby and then all of a sudden take him or her away. It’s just so unfair. Stillborn stat is only 1%. I fell under the 1%. I feel so terrible. I’ve found many support sites online. It’s great to know that everyone is supportive of each other and pray for one another. Please, do not feel alone.

I am so scared to try ever again. This incident has made me want to grow my family. I want a big family now–perhaps a big, big one. Hopefully the universe will bless me with the gift of giving life again.

I go to the docs next week and I will ask about conceiving again. But again, perhaps I am not ready emotionally. I don’t know what I am ready for. I’m scared.

II am 21 years old and i had miscarryed yesterday and i am so much better emotionally about it today. I am still bleeding and am having some muscle soreness i dont know if that is normal or not. I want to try agian as soon as possible, i dont know when that will be all though my doctor has told me he wants 2 neg pregnany tests and than after that i could try agian, also within 1 day i went to 2 diffrent obgyns and i was at 6 weeks and 5 days but then the next day when i went to the other obgyn i was at 5 weeks and 4 days then 2 days later my miscarriage happened, was their a defualt in the machines or was that a sign i was going to miscarry soon. also how would i know if i needed a d&c. this was my first pregnancy, is it normal to miscarry your first pregnancy? sorry i just have had so many question and its a saturday so none of my obgyns are in so i wanted to as someone. Thanks
Any other information is also welcome. Thanks agian!

Amanda,

I’m sorry about the loss of your baby.

Let’s see if I can clear up a few things. First, the sonograms. There is a margin of error on measuring babies, so if you went to different ob/gyns on different machines, they could be as much as a week off of each other. But yes, the baby does shrink after it dies, as the water is reabsorbed by your body, leaving just tissue which is easier to pass out the body without as much dilation.

1 in 10 pregnancies miscarry regardless of whether it is the first pregnancy or one later. It’s a very sad thing, but happens an awful lot.

It’s very important not to try to get pregnant again until you have a normal period, which means you haven’t bled for at least 21 days and that you bleed solidly, not just spotting, when you do. That way you know none of the pregnancy tissue is still in your uterus (this is also why they want a couple negative pregnancy tests.) You won’t ovulate until that happens anyway, and it can be frustrating and scary to try again too soon and not know what is happening.

Generally you would know you needed a D&C if the pregnancy tests refuse to go negative, or if you keep spotting blood off and on every few days, which means the body can’t get all the tissue out on its own. This happens sometimes, but not always.

Just do the best you can. It’s a hard road.

I recently had 2 miscarriages in 4 months. The first was a blighted ovum at 12 weeks and the last one was a chemical miscarriage at 5 weeks. My doctor encouraged us to start trying right away. I see on your website that you should wait for one period. I asked him if that was necessary and he said no as they can detect from an ultrasound how far along I am. I do want to try again but we have not even gotten the blood work results back yet. Again, he felt that we did not have to wait for the resluts and should just start trying. Anyway, I am confused about what to do. I am 33 and had a DandC with the first and a natural with the 2nd. Any opinions?

I am 28 yrs old. I have 2 beautiful daughters (ages 7 and I got preg with them without trying at all in fact it was completely unexpected. The girls have a different father than the man I am married to now. In Aug of 04 I had a miscarriage at 4 weeks. We were not yet married and the preg was unexpected. I didn’t greve much. I went on several forms of birth control before finally being happy with the Merina IUC. I had it removed this July so we could begin to try to get preg. In my amazement we got preg in Aug. However on Sep 13 I began bleeding and cramping. I went to the DR and he did an Ulta Sound. He told me there was not more evidence of a fetus or sack. I have never cried so much in front of perfect strangers. My husband and I are eager to begin trying again however I’m concerned that we are not compatible baby making machines since my two live births were with a different partner and my husband and I have had two miscarriages even though they were four years apart. Do I need to be worried. Should we be tested. Is it me. I guess I did forget to mention that my second live birth was very complicated. I had a placenta previa and she was delivered at 33 weeks via emergency C-Section. Im so scared and confused. I want more than anything to have another baby.

Sharon, I am going to gently disagree with your doctor. Yes, they can tell how old the baby is by ultrasound–if the baby is growing well.

The problem comes when things are not going well. You are certain you ovulated six weeks ago, but the baby is only measuring four. Now you aren’t sure when you got pregnant. Your doctor thinks he should see a heartbeat, but now everything is in question.

Waiting for a cycle gives you a solid LMP to work with, and there can be no question about the age of the baby and what part of the growth cycle you SHOULD be in, not just what you ARE in. This will give you so much more piece of mind.

At 33, you have plenty of time. Give yourself a little room to get your bearings, your body to settle down, and the hormones to start clicking in the right order. You may not even ovulate this first cycle, and not trying will relieve the pressure of worrying if you are or are not pregnant if you are late.

Hang in there. It’s a long road ahead.

Mindy,

I’m sorry you have been through so much. I doubt very much that what has happened has to do with the compatibility of you and your husband–such an incompatibility is very very rare (and treatable, if it does exist.)

Most people don’t realize that 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. You were so very fortunate to have your first two children so easily. I think it’s perfectly safe to keep trying, since it sounds as though both were early genetic losses, which cannot be predicted or prevented, but usually only relate to that pregnancy and not future one. Since it has happened twice, though, you might ask for basic testing to make sure you don’t have a mild health problem that is affecting your babies now even though you don’t have symptoms yourself. That’s one thing that can make the difference between healthy pregnancies and losses when the two are years apart.

Hang in there. Do the best you can.

Hi Deanna,
I’ve been meaning to email you for awhile now. I had a miscarriage at 8 weeks in December. It was my first pregnancy and it was tough for me and my husband. I came across your site while I was trying to understand what had happened and why. You provided a great deal of useful information that helped me through this difficult time. After a few months of grieving, getting back on track menstrually and getting a chicken pox vaccine, we were ready to try again. I bought an ovulation monitor because my BBTs didn’t seem to make sense anymore, but it wasn’t until July when we tried your “Sperm meets egg” plan – and we got pregnant that month (I am 11 weeks today)!

I just wanted to thank you for helping me through a difficult time and helping us get pregnant again – we are praying daily for a healthy pregnancy this time. You’ve helped a lot of people and I wanted you to know that you have helped one more very appreciate woman.

Thanks!

Wow! Congratulations on the new baby on the way.

Let’s see, names for the baby…Dee Anna, Deann, D’Ann.

Have a wonderful and healthy pregnancy.

I am 24 years old and had a blighted ovum pregnancy in april of this year, this was my first pregnancy. I had no bleeding and it was diagnosed by scan. I then had a medical evac through personal choice. I am now pregnant again I am 6 wks today have had no bleeding, but am so anxious I will have another blighted ovum, I am going for an early scan in a few weeks but I am so worried this will happen again what is the likelihood of this?

I am 26 years old and had a miscarriage early this year ( 2008) and I was completley broken by the experience. I have two small girls ages 2 and 3 and I am trying for another before I am “done”. I am now pregnant again, 9 weeks 2 days and I am just so scaired!!! Every time I use the restroom I am terrafied to see blood (tmi I apologise) and I am just wondering if anybody knows the stats for miscarriage? like, at what week am I in the clear?

These stories truelu touch my heart. I just had a miscarriage at 8 weeks. I have a healthy 4 year old son from a previous marriage and now my husband and I are so sad by losing our baby. Since Ive had one healthy baby and this was this FIRST time my husband and I tried, (we got pregnant on our honeymoon) how long should we wait to try again?? I had a dnc and Im still bleeding but I just want to get over this and try again without harming the next baby. please pray for us!!

Dear Deanna,

These statistics are so much more optimistic than my GP told me. I’m five weeks, and she told me I have a 25% per cent chance of miscarriage.

This is my first pregnancy, and I was already scared, so for her to tell me these odds was quite upsetting. I thought- based on what I’d read that it was more like 15 per cent.

It’s causing problems with my husband because he wants me to be happy and excited, and I’m too scared to even think about a baby with these odds.

Why is there so much variation in stats?

Thank-you,

Danielle

I’m the mother of a beautiful 3 year old daughter. I had a healthy pregnancy and great (although very long) birth with her. Since her arrival, I became divorced and met a new man who I now share my life with. He and I have suffered through 3 missed miscarriages. We’re about to start trying again but I admit, I am terrified. My doctor, though helpful, feels that I am healthy and should be able to produce healthy pregnancies and children and will not offer any blood work to us because he is unsure if my second miscarriage really WAS a miscarriage (I know it was). Anyway, I’m pretty scared and just have this feeling now that I’ll never be able to have children with my fiance. Could there be some reason for our multiple miscarriages? Are we incompatible in that respect? I really need some advice.

Please help, I was just told that I miscarriaged for a third time. I went to get an untrasound to find out if it was a boy or girl and there was no heartbeat. I miscarried 6months ago and I was 6 weeks along. I have one healthy boy who i had no problems with. Can someone please tell me if they have ever gon ethrough this. I am having a really hard time.

My fiancee and I suffered a miscarriage about 2 months ago (early September 08) and the effect, as some of you may know, was devastating. This was the first pregnancy for both of us. Apparently, the miscarriage happened around 7 weeks, not knowing this, and we had our first ultrasound at 12 weeks only to be given this terrible news. Now, 2.5 months later, we’re pregnant again. As happy as I am, I’m really trying to not think of it or to get to excited due to the fear of losing this one too. I feel bad for my lack of excitement, but I cannot go through that pain again. These stats are optimistic (we’re at 5 weeks) Any advice on how to cope? I’m so scared to one, lose this child, but to also never be able to have a child. My fiancee is 34 going on 35 and I know her window of possibility is closing fast. I’d like at least 2 kids and hoping for 4. Thanks.

So I’m assuming that a lot of mothers typically worry about miscarrying. I have dreams about it, well.. only one. I have my fingers crossed and am saying my prayers, definitely. I am 9 weeks 2 days and am praying for this to hurry up! I want to hold my bundle of joy

I had a chemical pregnancy at 5 weeks–does this count as a “first pregnancy” when looking at the statistics for miscarriage?

your information is so clear and comprehensive – thank you for posting it all. i (gratefully) have had two healthy prgenancies, resulting in two healthy children ( 4.5 years and 10 months).

we just found out i am pregnant with number 3 (EDD 11.14.09). so ii’m about 5 weeks along. (no us or dr visit yet.)

what are the risks for miscarriage, and also for stillbirth, for third pregnancies when i’ve never had a chemical, ectopic or miscarried pregnancy?

i almost feel like i’m increasing my odds because i’ve only landed on the favorable outcome side. is that irrational or statistically probable?

thanks so much!

I am 27 years old and I have 3 children 2years old, 4 years old, and 11years old all born at 40 weeks with no complications. However my last 2 pregnancies have resulted in miscarries, the 1st one the babies heart stopped at 6 weeks but I didn’t find out it stopped until I was 14 weeks and the 2nd one I was 20 weeks. I’m now married and trying to concieve. How likely do you think it would be for me to have one more full term baby?

hi i just had a couple questions i have 2 beautiful children who are 2 and 4 and they were both unexpected and when my 2 yr ol was 4 months i became pregnant again i ended up getting an abortion at 15wks that was in march and then in june i became pregnant again and had a miscarriage in august this was my 1st miscarriage i became pregnant again in october and had a miscarriage on thanksgiving i was worried that my fertility was sacraficed due to the abortion so i asked my dr she felt my cervix and then told me everything felt fine but i am still worried what are my chances of a 3rd miscarriages and when should i really push for further testing of my fertility

I completely understand the sadness and nervousness of trying to conceive and carry another pregnancy. I went through so much saddness with my loses and fear that I would never carry a pregnancy to full term. Friends, family and doctors told me to keep trying and I felt they were heartless. In hindsight, their advise was correct…….. I’m now a mother to two wonderful children 6 and 3 years old and two angels in heaven.. (No heartbeat at 16 week appointment, Michael Anna died at 14.5 weeks & Ezra died at 6 weeks.) Keep trying, God will find a way to put a child into your arms.

I had ectopic pregnancy in May 09 and doctors have to removed my left tube. After that my periods were normall but this month it started too soon and its almost two week I am bleeding. It was my first pregnancy, I am so dispressed and worry that whether am I going to concieve again or not. I went to doctor yesterday and she don’t know why I am bleeding, it might be I am not ovulating on time or it can be b’coz of my Thyroid. She will do Hystosalpingogram to see my other tube is opened. Fingers crossed until then.

I am 24 yrs old and am in the military. I recently(AUG,1,2009)had my third miscarriage. I am completely in the dark as to why this keeps happening to me. My husband wants to have a baby more than anything,but I am terrified to try again.Where I am currently located they dont offer any testing to help me find out what could be causing this to happen.Not to mention my job and those appointed over me couldnt be more insensative if they tried. I had 3 days to get over it and nobody who understood or even really cared(besides my husband) and my family is thousands of miles away. I am still in mourning by myself and in severe depression behind closed doors.I dont even bring it up to my hubby anymore.I am truly devastated and I just dont think I could take this pain again.At least I know I am not alone,but sadly that doesnt ease this pain.Maybe babies and I just werent meant to be.The stats certainetly aren’t in my favor. God please help me:(

I had a miscarriage at 4 weeks on Aug 24th, 2009 and then found out I was pregnant again at the end of September. I am now 6weeks today. Our first u/s showed a gestational sac, yolk sac, and fetal pole, but no heart beat yet. I’m so scared about going in for the 2nd u/s in 2 weeks and still not seeing a heartbeat. Now that I know there is a fetal pole have my chances of a miscarriage dropped at all?

I have had 3 chemical pregnancies (2 ending at 16-17 days past Ovulation and the last a little past 5weeks while taking 100mg of Prometrium) I have 1 son (almost 4 who was conceived and carried full term no problem) I am now 36. I am confused if these early losses are considered to be “normal” as in the 75% statistic range or because my period came a couple days late is it more unusual and is there probably something wrong??

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