Late miscarriage - how many people find out the cause?

[ImGoingForATwix]

I lost DS2 last week at 20 weeks. I'm interested to know out of those of you who've had a late miscarriage, how many found out the cause via the post mortem?

I have a nagging feeling we won't find a cause. There was no heartbeat at the routine 20 week scan, no bleeding, cramps or other symptoms at all other than reduced movement (which I had put down to other things given the gestation and the fact it had been a healthy pregnancy at 12 week scan). They think he'd been dead a little while, as he measured 16/17 weeks.

NB. All infection markers/tests that have come back so far are clear and midwife said placenta and cord looked ok/intact.

I have no advice but didn't want to read and run. I'm so sorry for the loss of your little boy.

Thanks Millie

I'm so very sorry for your loss x

So very sorry

Hello Twix. In my case the tests on the placenta have not come back yet. We are almost certain it was a chromosomal anomaly (he had a very sévère cystic hydroma) but we Will probably Never know which one. We chose to refuse the autopsy - it probably would not have given any answers.

It's agonising not knowing. I know it won't bring him back but I just want to know what happened. He was completely normal and healthy at 12 week scan.

Hi twix
I lost my baby girl in September at 27 weeks.
Her scans etc had all been perfect so we opted for full pm as we really needed to know why she was gone.
They found blood clots in the placenta that were too small to have been picked up on scans.
I was sure they wouldn't find a reason either and had gotten myself so worked up about it.
The doctors were very good when we were agreeing to pm. They said that even if they don't find a definite reason they can normally rule out loads of stuff anyway. So they can tell you what definitely didn't happen, if that makes sense.
I found it helpful to focus on that and that no matter what after the meeting you will know more then you know now.
I am so sorry for the loss of your son.

Thank you miami, that's really helped knowing that.

I'm so sorry for the loss of your daughter

Hello again.
I asked DD's paediatrician and she told me that tests on a placenta usually take months because they have the lowest priority.
This is in France, it may be different in the UK.

Hi I'mGoingForaTwix.
I just wanted to say that I am so sorry for the loss of your son x

I lost my little boy just over two years ago at 22 weeks (no warning signs as you describe). At 20 week scan his femur was measuring small and very low amniotic fluid; sadly I am aggrieved with the consultant who did not take this seriously and left my recall for a week - he wasn't overly worried about it apparently and I have yet to have my follow-up appointment (which I will hopefully be having soon). Anyhow, my son died a few days later after this scan - I don't believe anything could have been done to prevent his death, just more angry at the consultants Blaise attitude that is was O.K. Post-mortem revealed possible placenta issues - a clot was found but it was unknown whether this formed before or after his death and many not have contributed. But I think regardless, there were issues with his placenta and hence growth issues. However, there was no definitive reason (no chromosomal issues etc.) so in answer to your question, I suppose I would say yes and no (this isn't particularly helpful, sorry). I am just so incredibly sad you are having to go through this x

I am very sorry to hear about your loss, it's such an awful thing to go through. I lost a son at 25wks 4.5yrs ago, 20wk scan was fine but seems he stopped growing soon after and eventually his heart stopped. We opted for a pm but although the cause was placental insufficiency, there was no reason for it, just "one of those things". However, as other people have said, it did rule out many other things like genetic problems.

In my case, I also had 2 early miscarriages, one either side of my son, so when they investigated me they found I had a uterine septum which had no blood flow to it so if a foetus attached to that part of my womb, it couldn't survive. I had this fixed and went on to have 2 healthy pregnancies. This normally only causes early miscarriage but whether it did cause the late one too, I don't know.

But with the pm, I remember being quite annoyed they couldn't give me a reason but then looking at it differently, the fact it ruled out other problems gave me the confidence to keep going and try again.

Hope everything works out for you x

Meeple
Hi there and sorry to highjack OP thread, but your story is quite similar to mine so just wanted to ask you a couple of questions?
Firstly I am so sorry for the loss of your son. It is heartbreaking to hear stories of babies that inexplicably didn't make it, like our wee girl.
Anyway - I apparently have a bicornuate uterus, which is similar to septate. I have also had two early miscarriages at around 6.5/7 wks prior to my most recent pregnancy that ended with my poor babies stillbirth at 27weeks.
From everything I have read online it seems that bicornuate and septate present in a similar way and that it can be tricky to diagnose, can I ask how they diagnosed yours? Was it just a scan or something more detailed? Also could I ask what part of the country you are in (nothing specific, a north,
South, east or west will do, I can message you for more detail if you are near me). I am pretty convinced that mine is a septate uterus but my doc's seem totally unconvinced, which is frustrating as it's hard to think about trying again without knowing definites. Thanks

Thank you @Miami81 I am sorry for your losses also. I'm in the south west uk btw. Yes from what I understand on a normal internal and external ultrasound a bicornuate and septate uterus look the same because it just shows 2 chambers.

I was always told I had a bicornuate uterus until I had my 3 losses then I was referred to the recurrent miscarriage clinic and saw a consultant. I happened to mention I had a bicornuate uterus not thinking it was relevant because they always said it wouldn't be a problem but he seemed to know straight away that it could be a septate.

I had a hysteroscopy where they used a small camera through my tummy to look at my womb from the outside and that is how they could see that it wasn't heart shaped but actually normal shaped so proved the 2 chambers were being caused by a septum. Once diagnosed, I had a further hysteroscopy where they actually removed the septum and all ok from then.

I don't know if it's a common thing for septate to get misdiagnosed as bicornuate but I can certainly see how it could happen when they look the same on scan. I think the only way to know for sure is the hysteroscopy.

Whether this is the case for you too or not, I hope you get the answers you are looking for and hope that better times lie ahead xx

@Meeple
Thanks so much. The hysteroscopy is definitely what I am pushing for now, they seem to be thinking that a scan will be enough, but I want definite answers now, even if we have to pay to get them.
I have other risks as well, so if this is a physical one that can be investigated, understood and quite simply altered (if it is septate) I want to do that ASAP.
We are in Scotland but will definitely be pursuing the more detailed investigation.
Thank you. I do hope that our path from here gets somewhat easier but at the moment it just all feels so insurmountable.

Thanks so much for the responses and I'm so sorry for all of your losses, it's the most heartbreaking thing.

We were told 6 week wait for PM results, then 3 weeks, but since been told 6 weeks again. I'll assume 6 weeks. They'll test placenta too in that time. I'm so anxious to know, even though there's a good chance we won't get a reason.

We had a vanishing twin diagnosed at 12 weeks too. I wonder if that has something to do with it too.

I just wanted to add to this thread - not that I have any answers.

We lost our twins on Christmas day at 22.5 weeks. We have asked for full PM and very possible test. We are due to see the consultant in March for our results. We had a scan at 21 weeks and everything looked perfect. We have been told that the most likely outcomes are that it was to do with infection or that they just won't have an answer.

I am so sorry for all your losses. It is so hard.

So sorry bumbers. Fingers crossed for some answers.

Bumpers, so sorry for your loss x

I think it can be harder living without answers sometimes and I like to have something to pin it on - problems with the placenta in my case (at least it is what I am hanging onto). I blamed myself so much after it happened; the truth is it was nobody's fault (and very rarely is).

I really have no idea and getting increasingly irrational. I don't think it was an infection but I've run over every sniffle I've had in recent weeks and the people I've come into contact with that could have been carrying an infection. OR That bit of baked Camembert I ate at Christmas. OR when I slipped and fell in the bathroom (I was fine). OR when I missed a couple of days of my prenatal vits OR my age (35) OR my shitty egg quality and ruining them in my youth OR did the baby know when I had hoped it wasn't twins before I knew it had been twins OR that one time I wondered if we were really cut out for our 3rd kid (I ache for my third baby, we would have been fine) OR some really horrible shitty bad luck sent from a really horrible god.

I hate this. I'm being unreasonable today. Why couldn't it have been someone else, anyone else. But I actually wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

I’m so sorry for your loss. I lost my baby at the 20 week scan. We chose not to have a post mortem but when the baby came out it had been dead a while and the hospital said it would have been unlikely to find a cause.

Be kind to yourself was the best piece of advice I got on here. You can go round and round looking for things that may have caused it but sometimes we just don’t get answers. Hugs.