The loss of a child at birth or before birth can be overwhelming. It is not something couples are particularly interested in talking about, but it is somewhat necessary to talk about it to heal.
It is also essential to discuss the signs of miscarriage experienced because it helps prepare you for future pregnancies, enlighten other women on the signs to expect, and arm them with the proper knowledge and in case of an impending mishap.
Miscarriage Meaning
Miscarriage also called spontaneous abortion, it is the event that leads to the loss of a growing fetus before the 20th week of pregnancy.
What Causes Miscarriage?
If the fetus isn’t developing normally, the body has a way of expelling it off. This is what causes miscarriage.
There are several reasons why miscarriage happens in a woman’s body; some are due to reasons out of her control. The risk of miscarriage may also be due to the woman’s lifestyle and many other risk factors.
Let’s see some factors that may pose the risk of missing:
- Genetic or chromosomal issues like blighted ovum, molar pregnancy, intrauterine fetal disease, damaged egg or sperm cells.
- Placenta problems.
- Lifestyle.
- Diet.
- Age.
- Drug and alcohol usage.
- Uncontrolled diabetes.
- Obesity.
- High blood pressure.
- Food poisoning.
- Some medications.
- Problems with the uterus and cervix (septate uterus, cervical insufficiency, fibroid).
- Sexually transmitted infections.
- Health conditions like hormonal problems, polycystic ovary syndrome POCS and Luteal phase defect.
- Underweight.
- Caffeine abuse.
Miscarriage can happen in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. In the first trimester, it occurs between the 1st to 12th week, and at the second trimester, it is between the 13th and 19th week of pregnancy.
Sometimes women who experience miscarriage may not even know that they are pregnant because most of the time, the symptoms of miscarriage are similar to premenstrual symptoms. Therefore, sometimes women who experience miscarriage may not even know that they are pregnant.
Miscarriage Vs Menstrual Period
Since the symptoms of miscarriage and menstrual periods are pretty similar, it is essential to identify the slight differences between them.
Symptoms
Symptoms like backache, abdominal cramps, bleeding or spotting, weakness and tiredness are common pregnancy, premenstrual, and miscarriage symptoms. But the difference is that the signs of miscarriage are usually more intense than the menstrual periods.
Duration
In miscarriage, women usually experience cramps similar to contractions, intense backache, weakness of the legs, heavier bleeding.
The symptom of miscarriage may seem like a mild period at first, but one notable difference is that, unlike menstrual periods, the signs of miscarriage get more intense with time.
The cramps, waist pain, backaches become more painful, the bleeding from the vagina heavier. It may come and go repeatedly, or it may be continuous for weeks. Periods only last at most eight days, and for most women, the period cramps reduce with time.
The risk of miscarriage is highest at the early weeks of pregnancy, from the 1st to the 6th-week of pregnancy. By the seventh to 12th week, the risks drop, and by the 13th week, the risk is significantly reduced.
Note that despite the reduced risk at the 13th week, there are still chances of complications, and miscarriage can still occur.
Types Of Miscarriage
The symptoms of miscarriage experienced and the stage of the pregnancy usually determines the kind of miscarriage. The types of miscarriage are:
- Complete miscarriage. It is one which all the pregnancy tissues are expelled from the womb.
- Incomplete miscarriage. In this type of miscarriage, only part of the pregnancy tissues is expelled from the womb. Some parts remain in the woman’s body.
- Threatened miscarriage. This is more like a sign of an impending miscarriage. The woman experiences signs like bleeding or spotting, cramps, abdominal pains, etc., and If these symptoms continue, she may have a miscarriage.
- Missed miscarriage. The woman does not usually experience bleeding, so she may not know that the fetus is no longer alive.
- Inevitable miscarriage. It is a miscarriage that must occur. If the woman experiences a threatened miscarriage, the severity and duration of the signs indicate that the miscarriage must eventually happen.
- Septic miscarriage. It is a miscarriage caused by an infection like listeria.
- Miscarriage with twins or multiple pregnancies. Women pregnant with twins or triplets, quadruplets, etc., are more prone to miscarriage and other birth complications like preterm labor, stillbirth, and preeclampsia.
- Women with twins experience a type of miscarriage called vanishing twin syndrome. In this condition, one of the fetuses is no longer observed in utero.
- Repeat miscarriage. It is also called recurrent pregnancy loss. It is a situation where a woman has had two or more miscarriages. Statistics show that recurrent miscarriage occurs in one out of every 100 women. Sometimes the cause is unknown.
Treatments After Miscarriage
Treatments after miscarriage vary, depending on the type of miscarriage that the woman experienced.
- Expectant Management: For incomplete miscarriage, treatments like expectant management is needed. Here, it is expected that the body will expel the remaining parts of the fetus naturally.
- Medical management. Medications are used to help the remaining uterine products pass out of the woman’s body.
- Surgical management. This involves surgical removal of any retained products in the cervix.
- Physical recovery. It will take some time for the body to return to its pre-pregnancy state. After a miscarriage, there may still be some abdominal discomfort and light bleeding, especially a few days or weeks after.
After about 4 to 6 weeks, it is expected that the menstrual period will return. Recovering effectively after a miscarriage, it is advisable to rest, eat well, avoid thinking or worrying, surround yourself with supportive people, like your friends, family, a support group.
If you feel very overwhelmed about the miscarriage, it may be wise to see a therapist.
Complete recovery physically and emotionally is essential before you plan on getting pregnant again. However, the duration of recovery varies from woman to woman.
Signs Of Miscarriage In Early Pregnancy
The following are some signs of miscarriage you should watch out for In the early stages of pregnancy (the first trimester).
- Vaginal spotting or bleeding.
- Backaches.
- Waist pains.
- Lower abdominal cramps.
- Vomiting.
- Leg cramps.
- Dizziness.
- A copious vaginal discharge.
- A watery vaginal discharge that is tinged with blood and mucous.
- Weight loss.
- Fever.
- Chills.
Signs Of Miscarriage At The 6th Week Of Pregnancy
Lower abdominal pains, backache, waist pain, leg cramps, all these signs may be noticed at first. Other symptoms like: then follow them light spots of blood. The blood could be red or brownish, or blackish.
With time the bleeding increases, becoming heavier and more intense. The camps are similar to contraction. Women also experience copious watery vagina discharge, tinged with blood and mucous.
Let’s take a closer look at some ten early warning signs of miscarriage below.
1. Cramps
Cramping results from the involuntary contraction of the muscles of the uterus. It is accompanied by consistent, sharp pains that are like a dull ache.
These pains can occur continuously without stopping or start and stop over and over again. The cramps are felt at the lower abdomen, back, legs, sometimes at the arms and the pelvic region.
Cramping is a related symptom of menstrual period and pregnancy. Cramping in miscarriage is experienced like an intense menstrual cramp.
The tightening and pain could vary from mild to severe, and because it is similar to menstrual period and pregnancy, women may not notice that there is a threatened miscarriage.
The duration of cramping varies from woman to woman. Some women experience cramps accompanied by bleeding for few hours. For others, it can last for few days, sometimes even a week or more.
As the cramps progress, it usually gets more painful because of tightening and squeezing of the uterus to expel its contents. The pains can be similar to slightly intense labor pains that one can’t overlook.
If you experience consistent cramps that are pretty intense in pregnancy. It may be a sign of miscarriage, and it is best to call your healthcare provider or head to the hospital immediately.
Before you get medical care, some ways to manage the pain are lying down and rest, drinking lots of fluids, wrapping a hot water bottle in a cloth, and place in the abdomen.
2. Bleeding
Abdominal cramps usually accompany this sign of miscarriage. The bleeding could be noticed as light spots at first and later progresses to heavier bleeding. Bleeding is the most common sign of early miscarriage. It shows a slightly brownish or red blood clot.
Sometimes, women experience light spotting to mild bleeding in pregnancy. It is completely normal in a healthy pregnancy. This bleeding is called implantation bleeding.
It means that a woman may sometimes not know if she is experiencing a miscarriage as the signs are sometimes similar to pregnancy. However, if bleeding continues for several days without stopping and becomes heavier or if you feel unease, contact your doctor.
Your doctor is in the best position to tell if it’s an implantation bleeding or miscarriage. Bleeding can last for several weeks. It may be continuous, or it may come and go.
It usually becomes heavier as it progresses. You should also be concerned if the bleeding is accompanied by intense cramps, large clots of blood or tissues.
A woman who has had repeated miscarriages should contact her healthcare provider immediately if she notices anything like bleeding. Though not all women experience bleeding as a sign of miscarriage if you see you are bleeding.
If cramps, a fever accompany it, the bleeding is getting heavier or lasts longer than 7 days accompanied with intense cramp that is consistent, then seek medical help.
3. Backaches
Backache is also a normal pregnancy side effect (Read about more pregnancy side-effects on the post (Ten pregnancy side-effects no one tells you about), even premenstrual symptoms.
In miscarriage, intense backache occurs because the muscles contract to expel the fetus from the womb. The result is the tightness observed at the lower back and waist, which causes discomfort and weakness.
Backache is also accompanied by symptoms like fatigue, cramps, bleeding, and tiredness. The feeling is slightly similar to the contractions in labor. These symptoms could be consistent starting and stopping for days.
4. The Pregnancy Symptoms Stop
Early signs that indicate pregnancy, such as breast tenderness, heavy and itching breasts, nausea, morning sickness, etc. An abrupt stop of these pregnancy signs could indicate a miscarriage.
It is probably due to the decrease in pregnancy hormone levels such that the body begins to return to its pre-pregnancy state.
Though pregnancy symptoms vary from woman to woman and change per trimester, the pregnancy symptoms does not stop during pregnancy, it only changes.
Suppose you have been experiencing pregnancy symptoms like vomiting, mood swings, tiredness, breast tenderness, etc., but no longer notice them, and you feel like your old self again.
Or there was no sign of bleeding experienced, contractions, or cramps, but you don’t feel pregnant. Then you should see your health care provider be sure that something isn’t amiss.
5. No Observed Fetal Heartbeat
By the 7th to 10th week of pregnancy which is about three months, doctors can hear the fetal heartbeat with a stethoscope or a Doppler. Constant heartbeat is an indication that the baby is fine.
A situation where the woman does not show marked signs of miscarriage like intense cramps or bleeding may be a case of missed miscarriage. In this case, the fetus has died in the womb, but the body did not expel it out.
The woman may have a miscarriage for days but may not know. During a prenatal check-up, she may discover when the doctor observes no sign of heartbeat from the baby.
Even though women experience no bleeding or cramps in missed miscarriage, other signs that may indicate a miscarriage are a sudden decrease in pregnancy symptoms, a pregnancy test strip may no longer show positive, vomiting or diarrhoea, weight loss.
If there’s no observed heartbeat, the doctor can carry out blood tests and a series of ultrasounds to confirm a miscarriage.
6. No Observed Fetal Movement
By the 18th to 20th week of pregnancy, you may start noticing the baby kicks. It is called quickening. First-time moms may not quickly observe at first, but it will definitely not be missed.
You can experience fetal movements as tiny kicks in the stomach. The feeling is described as tickling or butterflies in the stomach.
Though a baby’s movement isn’t always constant (that is, it doesn’t happen every time), you should notice it at particular times of the day.
If you have not observed movement in your baby for some days, even without bleeding, cramps, or vaginal discharge, there is a need to check for it could be a sign of miscarriage.
No fetal movement doesn’t necessarily indicate a miscarriage, so do not go about panicking. If you haven’t noticed activity in your baby for few days, you may not need to worry.
Just be observant of any changes but if you no longer experience pregnancy symptoms and no movement for the day’s weeks, do well to see your doctor.
Your doctor may try to stimulate activity in the baby and check for the heartbeat. If there are none, the doctor will do an ultrasound scan to see what is happening in utero.
7. A Drop-In HCG Levels
hCG stands for human chorionic gonadotropin as a sign of pregnancy, hCG hormones in the body increases. It is what over-the-counter pregnancy tests measure, hCG levels in the blood or urine.
hCG is produced by the cell that surrounds the growing fetus. Though hCG is also produced by other conditions in the body like cancerous cells, It is a significant marker of pregnancy.
This hormone stimulates the ovaries and helps the woman’s egg to mature. During pregnancy, there will be an increase in the hCG levels in the blood above.
To determine if there is a miscarriage, especially if there are no marked signs like blood loss, doctors can do a blood test to determine the level of hCG in the blood.
If the hCG level is decreasing, it may be a sign of miscarriage. Series of ultrasound scans will be done to confirm this. Other tests like generic tests and blood tests will also be conducted.
8. A Negative Pregnancy Test
The two lines in the pregnancy test strip is a life-changer for many women. It is usually the first clue to their pregnancy. If you keep taking a pregnancy test while pregnant, it will keep showing the two lines, a sign that the woman is pregnant.
If you had a positive pregnancy test before then a negative pregnancy test result, it could indicate that miscarriage had occurred.
If you are disturbed that you are having a miscarriage, maybe you experience symptoms like cramps, backache, and spots, which are early miscarriage signs; try taking a pregnancy test.
If no lines show or the lines are very faint. It may be an indication that it is a miscarriage. Take the test repeatedly for several days. If it shows negative, you will need to see your health care provider.
9. A Copious Vaginal Discharge
The vaginal discharge increases during pregnancy. It is more like a jelly, whitish or slightly off the whitish discharge. It shouldn’t smell; it shouldn’t cause itching.
The increased vaginal discharge helps to lubricate the vagina preparing the body for pregnancy and the final stage of labor.
A sign of miscarriage is increased vaginal discharge. The discharge is usually accompanied by red, brown or black blood. The vaginal discharge may also range from pinkish to red-brown colour.
It could come as a watery fluid with mucus (this may signify that the amniotic fluid and the cervical plug are leaking out). If it progresses, the woman may experience thick clots of blood and other pieces of body tissues passing out with the discharge.
Symptoms like cramps in the abdomen (slightly similar labor contractions), backache, and dizziness are also experienced.
10. Unease
It is one sign of miscarriage that many women experience. Some women experience what is called a missed miscarriage. Here they do not see any bleeding as is expected during a miscarriage. But even with no test done, women have said that they knew that something was not right.
The signs accompanying unease are extreme sadness, mood swing, depression, weight loss, and lack of appetite. This feeling is what propels women to see their doctor.
If you did not observe any sign of miscarriage but feel that things are not just right even without any valid reason, you should see your doctor even if you do not experience any miscarriage sign.
After Miscarriage
Recovering your body back is very important before you and your partner think of having a baby again. If it’s the first miscarriage you have experienced, you can go ahead to have another baby.
Doing this with the guide of the doctor is helpful. For a woman with recurrent miscarriages, your doctor will recommend that you conduct some tests to determine if any underlying factors cause a miscarriage. Series of tests are:
- Chromosome test.
- Several ultrasound scans.
- Pelvic and uterine examinations.
- Blood tests to determine any hormonal imbalance.
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