Question about fertility after miscarriage

[butterflygirl1515]

Hi all,

Ive read in lots of places/ sources that a woman is more fertile than normal for the 6 months after a miscarriage as the body is more accepting to pregnancy having recently been pregnant.

My question is though, is that from the start of a miscarriage or the end of it when the bleeding has stopped? Cant find the answer anywhere and wondered if anyone can help?

The answer makes quite a difference in my case as my miscarriage started on 24th March but the bleeding has lasted a month now doing it the natural way, Ive now got to have the surgical proceedure this Thurs as have retained products and they said I could bleed/spot for 2 weeks after that and then wait 4 week+ after that for my period to come. so that will make it
mid June before I can TTC again (want to wait till after first period for dating reasons). So thats 3 months since I first miscarried so does that 3 months mean I only have 3 months extra fertile time left?

Any answers appreciated as very keen to make the most of this extra fertile time to try to concieve again.

Thanks

Sorry to hear about your miscarriage, and I wish you a speedy recovery.

I'm pretty sure that there isn't any science behind the idea that women are more fertile after a miscarriage. It's more to do with women who are able to get pregnant and very much want to be pregnant again having sex frequently during their fertile period, rather than a 'let's just stop using birth control and see what happens approach'.

There's certainly no magic number of months in which you're more fertile, so you'll be no less fertile in June that you were in March, for example.

There are lots of anecdotes to support this increased fertility though, so hopefully you will be lucky.

Best of luck.

Thanks for your reply.

sorry for your loss. I don't know the scientific truth to this, but I would have thought that if the increased fertility is real it would be from after you stop bleeding as up until that point your body may still be ' thinking' you are pregnant - it can take a while after the bleeding stopped to have a negative pg test.

I feel for you, I'm in a similar quandary - I had a mmc in march and have just had my first period, but I'm holding off TTC due to an unrelated gaeno issue that may require treatment. I really want to TTC again asap but need to sort my other issue out first, it's very frustrating. whether the six month thing is true or not, I am more than happy to believe it if it keeps me thinking positively about the chances of conceiving again! I hope things work out for you

Hi Butterfly,
I'm so sorry to read about your loss.
If it's not too personal a question, can I ask how you know you had retained products?
I also miscarried at the end of March (at nearly 10 weeks) and am still bleeding, so have been bleeding/spotting for 5 weeks this Saturday. I'm worried I may have retained products?
However I know I passed the baby because I saw it and so didn't have to have the ERPC.
I haven't been scanned at all since the day I found out I had MMC and when I mentioned to a GP I was still bleeding, he said it was normal.
Like you, I want to ttc again ASAP as feel sad and empty.
Since Wed the bleeding has become more like a period so I'm hoping its on its way out. I am producing negative pregnancy tests.
I hope you are back on track soon. Hope you don't mind me hijacking the thread.
Let us know how you get on ??

Hi lostinthetriangle,

I was seen for my miscarriage at my local hospital Early pregnancy unit. Self referred as not found GP 's that helpful. I opted for the natural miscarriage option. I bleed and passed the gestational sac and other largish clots over 2 weeks. Had a follow up scan at the hosp at the 2 week mark. They said it was all happening naturally and the bleeding would stop by the weekend. It did but only for a couple of days and then started up again for another week or so. So I was worried by this so went in again and a 2 scan showed I had retained products. So I then opted for the surgical management option which I had yesterday. It went smoothly and had no pain or reaction afterwards to the General anesthetic. I came home a couple of hours later. Just have to take it easy today and not allowed to drive today but after that can get back to normal life. Apparently I may bleed for a couple of days and up to 2 weeks due to the proceedure. But will then get a heavier than normal period approx 4 weeks after this bleed stops.

I also had a negative home pregnancy test result before I had the retained products removed so whilst that is good news it doesnt mean you definatly dont have retained products.

So I bleed from start of miscarriage 24th Feb to 30th March so 4.5 weeks. I wish now that Id had surgical option earlier but its done now.

Do you have an early pregnancy unit locally which you can walk into and self refer? They can usually scan you on the same day if needed though you may have to wait around for an hour or so if its busy. I went to mine 5 times during my 12 weeks (baby stopped devoping at week 9) for various reasons and they were fantastic.

Hope alls ok for you. x

Thanks for your reply, Butterfly.

Our EPU has to be a referral from gp, no walk-ins. So I guess I should return to the gp if bleeding doesn't stop soon. I think my period started Wednesday, but it's not particularly heavy or clotty (sigh!). So maybe it's not my period. I think if all bleeding hasn't stopped by next Wed I will ask GP for a scan referral.

Just want to stop bleeding and return to normal.

Hope you are recovering well after the operation.

Take care.