Possible trigger - late "early" miscarriage

[WantLifeToBeBetter]

Hi all, I hope it's ok to post this here. I'm wondering if anyone has knowledge or experience of miscarriage late in the 1st trimester (or early in the 2nd) and the miscarriage board (where I originally posted this) is very quiet.

I had a miscarriage a couple of weeks ago - MMC discovered at the 12 week scan, baby stopped developing at 11 weeks 1 day. Prior to the surgical management the sonographer did another scan and confirmed that as far as she could tell everything looked "normal". They will send the "product of conception" off for tests to determine whether it was a molar pregnancy but from what I've read I doubt that was the case and they won't test for anything else.

I've obviously been desperately trying to figure out what went wrong so that I can do anything necessary to prevent it from happening again. I keep being given the figure that 25% of pregancies miscarry in the first 12 weeks however I understand that once the pregnancy reaches 11 weeks the risk drops to 2-2.5% so I am struggling to believe that it was just "random", especially since the foetus looked so normal on the scan.

Does anyone have any idea of what could cause a miscarriage at this stage? I understand a chromosomal problem is a possibility but haven't found any research giving the % probability of a chromosomal issue being the cause of a miscarriage at X weeks.

Is it worth trying to pursuade the NHS to test me for blood clotting problems? Or going private for tests? Or asking them to have a look at my cervix? I haven't been offered a follow up at the EPU so guessing it will all have to be through the GP.

Any knowledge/advice or recommended reading (books or research papers) would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Hi OP. Firstly, sorry for your loss
I recently had a MC myself but not as late on.

I just don't think you will find the answers you're looking for and MC is something that does just happen. I went through similar questions myself. My only advice would be ensure you're taking folic acid, ensure you're not smoking and not drinking. Apart from that I'm not sure there's anything you can do.

Thank you Andromeida59 and I'm sorry for your loss too

Thank you GrapesAreMyJam, it is reassuring to hear that you went to to have a successful pregnancy . I'm not sure if I'll be able to relax at all next time around (presuming there will be a next time). I didn't enjoy pregnancy before but because of the morning sickness wasn't really worried about miscarriage at all - next time I think I'll be on tenter hooks the whole time..

I'm still not convinced that miscarriage after 9 or 10 weeks is "common" tbh. My understanding is that the idea that the whole of the first trimester being the "danger zone" dates back to the time before scans were so widely available - so people would miscarry at 12 weeks but didn't realise that the baby had died several weeks before that. I hope that makes sense. (And still very pleased to hear about GrapesAreMyJam's positive experience after going through this).

Sadly I don't think they will do the blood clotting tests until you've had 3, or 2 if trying a long time before getting pregnant. I've had lots of tests and have yet to find reason for my multiple MCs. That said, a sympathetic GP can do tests on your B12, Vitamin D, Thyroid profile etc. As all these things can and do cause MC. I'm surprised you weren't offered genetic testing with your D&C. I opted for that this time to see if I can get any clues. Be kind to yourself, it's a big shock and so upsetting.

i understand it is grim for you, but after just 1 mc I don't think you will get any further testing. The odds of mc may be lower at 11 wks but still not so low as to make it unusual. Things that are low probability do still happen to someone, and one of the hard lessons in life is that sometimes that someone is you. Tough as it seems, the best thing you can do now is grieve for this pregnancy, move on and try again. You know you can conceive - that's not a consolation, but it is reason for hope.

Hello OP

I am booked in for a D&C Monday - am 9 weeks. There was a heartbeat two weeks ago. They are going to send the products off for testing, it is standard where I am.

I hope you're ok

@WantLifeToBeBetter I had a mmc discovered at the 12 week scan. I'd had a private early scan at 8 weeks and all was fine (baby's growth was spot on and the heartbeat was strong). The sonographer even said my chance of MC at that point was very low, so who knows what happened. I now have an 11 month old DD who was conceived on my 3rd cycle after my mmc. Sorry for your loss. It's such a shock.

I'm so sorry for your loss, I just wanted to say that I had an early miscarriage at around 6/7 weeks. It took me a long time to feel ready to try again but I eventually did. I'm currently 18 weeks with our DS and I am starting to feel much more relaxed, I know there are no guarantees however. The fear of another loss really affected my first trimester and the first few weeks of the second but I am now starting to believe that this will actually happen.
A very unhelpful consultant implied that what happened the first time was my fault, it wasn't, and there's nothing you could have done, unfortunately PP are correct and they're not as likely to do anything until you've had consecutive losses as far as I'm aware.
Take care and be kind to yourself.

Sorry for your loss OP. It’s such a shock the first time it happens and you understandably want answers.

I’ve had four miscarriages and tbh I wasn’t able to get any tests in the NHS until I had had 3 losses.

All you can do at this stage is have some time to process this and heal then try again.

Thumbellini the sonographer said they would do tests but then the nurse we spoke to later said no. Maybe I should have pushed harder. I've already had b12 (too high! ) and thyroid (a little too low, so been on thyroxine since the beginning of the pregnancy) tested but will ask about vit D.

I'm sorry for your loss nespressowoo, I hope it goes ok on Monday

I'm sorry it happened to your too Flatwhite32 - great to hear about your baby

So sorry about your loss, OP. I went through a d&c a month ago, baby had stopped growing at 9 weeks which I also think is quite late. Still waiting for my period and can't wait to try again!

A close friend has had 2 miscarriages in a row (she conceived the 2nd time around on the 3rd cycle but sadly also lost that baby). I really think it's more common than you think with miscarriages in the first trimester, but people do t usually talk about it.

I feel a bit like my body has failed me. Told family but not all friends, and no colleagues. This is why I think people don't hear about miscarriages that much.

Anyway we are fertile as we managed to get pregnant, and I've heard you're extra fertile after a miscarriage so 🤞 for all of us 😄

I'm surprised the nurse said no, miscarriage care so so disjointed and quite frankly shit across the UK. I had quite a 'good' experience but I think I was just lucky tbh. As if any of this is luck! But listen, you can and will get pregnant again, it's frightfully common and look at all the success stories on this thread alone!

Thanks smartcarnotsosmartdriver and all the best for your current pregnancy

Thanks EstherLittle, and I'm so sorry that you've been through it multiple times, it is so hard even once

Thank you SunStruck, I'm sorry for your loss too and yes, 🤞for both of us.

We got a copy of "miscarriage, what every woman needs to know" by Lesley Regan yesterday. Interestingly her opinion is that 10 weeks should be the cut off for early/late miscarriage, and she says that a miscarriage after that is more likely to be down to clotting issues, autoimmune or external cause like infection than chromosomal. Still might be chromosomal, or just random though. I'm going to look into getting a thromboelastography to see how clotty my blood is if I can. Thumbellini - can I be nosey and ask if you've had that done?

No actually, well at least I don't think so. I have had the repeat loss panel done and a few other ones but I am currently waiting on a referral and I suspect that's the next step for me. I read that book recently and it was great, she really knows her stuff. I am probably going to end up pushing for a referral to st Mary's at this point, I fall into the initial infertility and then repeat loss category, which she talks a lot about in that book!

I think, having done a but of googling, that St Marys might be one of very few places that offer it (so no idea if I'll be able to get it either NHS or private after "only" one miscarriage). Good luck with your referral Thumbellini.