Early miscarriage @ 5+3 wks; is there anything I can do next time?

[triplespin]

Just going through my first miscarriage. Already have a dc who is 4.5 yrs. I got pregnant on TTC cycle 2 but miscarried shortly after. I worry that I may have left things too late as I am 35 now. Is there anything I can do, short of hoping I am lucky next time around? I know everyone says the mc is v. common; but I would still like to understand if there are ways to prepare my body better or checks I could get done (but it seems even privately I need to have atleast 3mc ; is that right?). Is there anything unique about mc at 5/6 wk mark as opposed to say 9/10 wks? Probably im asking qns that may not have answers. Ultimately I guess I am hoping for support and looking to hear positive stories from mumsnetter!!

triplespin sadly 1 in 4 women experience miscarriage, so although terribly sad, it is very likely you can try again successfully. More likely than not, indeed.

In terms of prevention - many women like to take a pregnancy multi-vit, plus vitamin C, vitamin D and vitamin B complex. These are the important suppliments for pregnancy. Apart from that a healthy lifestyle generally is good but at such an early loss, there really is little that could be done to prevent it. Sadly the majority of these early losses are random, often to do with chromasomes and there's nothing docs could do to prevent them- but they are tragic one-offs.

35 is not too old to have a child. NO WAY. It makes me angry that the media present it as such. It is upsetting to women in our position (in my case, I started trying earlier and have lost 3, and am NOW approaching 35... according to the media I will now fail- but not according to the real doctors!). The risk of 'sporadic' miscarriage rises slightly from 15-25% between 35 and 40, and it can take longer to conceive. BUT it is 100% normal to have kids in this bracket - due to my recurrent miscarriage problem I am going to (I hope) have my first at 35 (and really don't assume you'll end up like me, I'm the unlucky 1% and guess what... they put my chances at over 70% so yours are higher than that!).

An excellent source of reassuring factual advice about trying again (with a helpline) is the miscarriage association - www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk if you go to them you'll see a lot of reassuring information and support (and success stories) on their forum.

Squiz is right. MC is sadly common, about 15% of recognised pregnancies. Most of these losses happen early and are due to chromosome problems arising randomly as the egg and sperm meet, meaning that the embryo can't develop. Your chance of a healthy pregnancy next time is the same as it was after one previous successful pregnancy, about 85%. I think it would be emotionally easier to cope with if you had answers as to why the pregnancy was lost, but the probability is it was random and won't recur, which is why you get the 3-in-a-row rule for investigating.
The age related miscarriage risk doesn't rise sharply until well after 40. If you got pregnant fairly quickly that suggests you are still fertile and have every chance of a healthy pregnancy next time. Keep taking folic acid, try to eat well and stay healthy, cut back on caffeine and alcohol, and cross everything!

Thanks Squizita & Bakingtins. Miscarriage association has a wealth of information and reading the advice there and your comments does give me some reassurance.

I feel much more positive today - I have already switched to decaf (tea) and stopped having coffee altogether since the beginning of my pregnancy; so will simply carry on with these good habits and hope for the best.

When should I normally expect AF to arrive after mc? Drs said 4-6 weeks, but is that 4-6 weeks after mc or after bleeding stops? After my scan, the prognosis was of "complete miscarriage" i.e. there was no sac/tissue left in my womb and I was told that I would just carry on bleeding for some time, but not medical management / d&c was needed.

Usually 4-6 weeks from the date of the MC, though it can sometimes be longer than this without there being anything wrong, it just depends how long it takes your normal cycle to kick in again, which can be affected by how long it takes for the HCG to fall to zero.