Recurrent miscarriage - what happens next? (NHS)

[mummyjl15]

Hi
Unfortunately I’ve had a third miscarriage today, I would have been 5 weeks tomorrow. My last one was 2 days before Christmas (at 4+ 3 weeks) and my first was in June (at 6+5 weeks).

I wanted to know if anyone else has been referred to the recurrent miscarriage clinic via the NHS as that’s what’s just happened to me today and I wondered what actually happens?

I had my hormone levels checked last month as we had an appointment at a private fertility clinic and my levels were all absolutely fine so there’s no problem there.

Feeling very fed up now. We conceived our first child straight away, she’s now 2 1/2 and we’ve been trying for our second for almost a year now.

Im so sorry to hear about your miscarriages mummyjl15 I'm afraid I dont have any advice but I couldn't just read your post and run - sending you lots of love through this difficult time xx

I was referred for testing. I was actually 5 weeks pregnant by the time of my appointment and that went on to be a successful pregnancy.

I had been prescribed progesterone by my GP after the third miscarriage, and had started taking it 2dpo of my successful cycle. I’m convinced that’s what helped.

Very sorry for your loss. This is my experience - hope it helps.

I was referred to the RM clinic after my most recent mmc in May 17. I had my first appointment with the consultant mid August. I had to return at the beginning of my next cycle for bloods to be taken and then the next appointment was two months later for more bloods. I then had to attend in November for a HSG. I then saw the consultant again just before Christmas and had an ultrasound the same day. Unfortunately I was too late in my cycle that day to see much so had to rearrange for early January for another scan and a hysteroscopy and biopsy the same day.

After all that no abnormalities were found so my six miscarriages are still unexplained. I've just been formally discharged from the clinic so the whole process took about 9 months. It's very important that you don't concieve while you're under the care of the clinic and you're expected to use contraception - most of the tests can't be done if there's a chance you could be pregnant. I'm now over 40 so it was a difficult decision to proceed because of that and some of the tests were fairly painful. Obviously the tests you have will depend on your own circumstances and whether the initial bloods show anything.

I hope you don't mind my honesty. If I'd have known how long everything would take I think my decision to go ahead might have been different, particularly as in my own case it's provided no answers. I do think it's worth having a long chat with your consultant at the outset so you know exactly what to expect.

Good luck with everything and I hope you concieve your rainbow baby soon x

Hi, I had 4 miscarriages including one at 16 weeks after my first healthy pregnancy. I did go on to have DD2 nearly 2 years ago now.

If you are in or around London, do try to get referred to Professor Regan at St Mary's in Paddington. She was really good.

In the end I was found to have a blood clotting issue as well as a bicornate uterus. But I had my first referral to the Royal Free RM clinic after miscarriage 3 and they didn't do the level of investigation that St Mary's did. I requested a second referral from my GP after miscarriage 4.

for you - miscarriages are horrendous, I'm still getting over mine now. Good luck x

I had private tests done after 3rd ( but not 3 consecutive) MC, consisting of ultrasound scan and blood tests for hormone levels and ovarian reserve. Went on progesterone and had a 4th MC, which was tested by the NHS RMC clinic and found to be chromosomally normal. Despite that they had nothing further to offer and no suggestion beyond try again on baby aspirin + progesterone. I went to see Prof Quenby in Coventry and had uterine biopsy and scratch which showed I had high uNK cells, my next pregnancy was successful on heparin, prednisolone, progesterone. The local NHS clinic were very supportive in early pregnancy, I had fortnightly scans until 12 weeks. I am so pleased all that heartache is behind me, I feel for you currently on that rollercoaster of emotions and hope you find answers too.

Thanks for your replies.
I’ve already had my hormone levels checked which all came back normal. I’m waiting for a referral for the recurrent miscarriage clinic now and in the meantime I’ve got another blood test on Thursday for the thrombophilia screen and full blood count. Our private fertility doctor said we could also get a carrier type blood test done to check for chromosome abnormalities.
I’m going to wait a week and if I haven’t had a letter about my appointment at the clinic we will go private.
Here’s hoping we can get some answers so we can start trying again! 🤞🏻
I’m just thankful we have our daughter but we’re so desperate to have another baby before there’s too big an age gap 😢

Got my blood test booked for Thursday, just waiting for a scan date now so I can get that sorted. Might go private once I’ve had those results. Earliest appointment for the recurrent miscarriage clinic is end of March! I’m too impatient to wait that long.

Hi @mummyjl15, sorry for your losses. Sounds a bit like me. Have had mc last april af 5 weeks, mmc spet at 10 wks (baby growth only 6+1) had seen a heartbeat at that stage & loss again in dec at just over 4 wks. Have had all my hormone bloods done & others but all normal. Waiting on ultrasound and hysteroscopy. Dh & i had karyotyping bloods done but they have come back that under new guidelines only 'products of conception' are tested. The consultant has told me to go on baby aspirin & prog supplements if get preg in meantime of waiting but im going to ask if i can take the prog after ovulation. Its a horrendous time. I have a boy of 11 who was conceived easily no problems, never in a million years did i expect to be here & getting baby bombed by friends in every direction 😪

Hi @mummyjl15 I’m so sorry to hear about your losses. I also had 3 losses and was referred to my nhs recurrent miscarriage clinic. We saw a consultant who was very positive that we had just had ‘bad luck’ (which felt a bit unfair), and she prescribed me 5mg of folic acid. The hospital were able to test my third loss and discovered a genetic problem. Because of this we were referred for genetic tests but these came back fine, as the consultant said they would. My other tests all came back normal too. They sent us a reassuring letter saying there was nothing wrong with us and to try again with the 5mg folic.
I had an underlying feeling something was wrong with me because when losing a pregnancy I felt so ill like I’d been poisoned. We sought private tests and saw dr Shehata in Epsom who tested me for natural killer cells. Results came back high and he prescribed me a low dose of steroids while ttc (to be continued if I had a positive test). I followed this treatment plan and conceived again after 7 months, and DS was born as a result.
I wish you all the best it truly is hard but don’t give up.