Miscarriage after seeing heartbeat

[Rowhana]

Hi everyone.
Has anyone experienced a miscarriage after seeing a heartbeat at 7/8 weeks? I had a previous miscarriage where I had some bleeding and they told me the baby didn't have a heartbeat and was measuring 8 weeks.
So now I'm wondering:

1. Did my 8 weeks miscarriage fetus ever have a heartbeat? How long can a fetus grow without a heartbeat?
2. Now that I've seen a heartbeat at 7.5 weeks in my current pregnancy, is there a good chance my pregnancy will succeed or is there still a high risk of the baby's heartbeat stopping?

Thanks everyone, I'm just sick with worry that something will go wrong again ☹️

Hi Rowhana

It's totally understandable that you are feeling this way after having a previous miscarriage. But remember that this is a different pregnancy with a different embryo and that the odds are very much in favour of this pregnancy going well.

It is possible to have a miscarriage after seeing a heartbeat - it happened to me at 8 weeks after seeing a heartbeat at 7 weeks - but once you have seen a heartbeat the chances of a miscarriage are much less, only around 5%. If your last pregnancy was measuring 8 weeks when you miscarried it very likely did have a heartbeat because a heartbeat starts at around 6 weeks and a pregnancy would probably not progress to grow further if there was none but it is likely that there was another major developmental issue of some kind with the baby that just resulted in it stopping growing at that stage.

Unfortunately there is no guarantee with any pregnancy but all you can do is remember that the odds are good for you at this stage and control what you can control - eat as well as you can, take your vitamins, relax as much as you can and get out for some gentle exercise every day. Nature will take care of everything else.

My first pregnancy gave me my little boy and my second was a missed miscarriage at 8 weeks - I did nothing different both times but with very different outcomes so it really is just one of these things. But I do understand how you feel because if I am lucky enough to get pregnant again I am sure that I will feel exactly how you are feeling now.

Sending you a big hug and really really hoping that you have a smooth pregnancy and healthy baby later this year

I saw a baby measuring exactly my dates and a HB of 141 which I was told was perfect at 7+1. I didn't find out till 9+4 I had a mmc. It measured 7+1 so my baby literally died the day I saw a perfect heartbeat. The world is so fucking cruel.

Thank you so much for sharing @honeymirabella, it has really helped me put things into perspective. I wish you all the best in your next pregnancy if you decide to try again.

Absolutely awful for you @justwant2beamum. I don't know how anyone manages to enjoy pregnancy with all these terrible odds against us. I hope you have better luck if you try again.

I’m sorry for your loss. Two of my miscarriages also saw a heartbeat around 7 weeks.

Sorry to hear that @Grognonne. When did you find out you had miscarried?

Hi @Rowhana, I found out a few weeks later at a private scan in the second one. For the third one one I was under recurrent miscarriage clinic and was seen every two weeks, so found out at the next scan.

Very sorry for you loss.

This happened to me, unfortunately. It is uncommon to see a heartbeat and miscarry but it does happen. Remember, you have a huge chance of a next successful pregnancy. My 6 month old rainbow baby daughter is snuggled up to me asleep in my bed as I type this.

I had a scan at what I thought was 8 weeks but baby was measuring 6 weeks 1 day - saw heartbeat but dates were quite far out so I suspect something was wrong at that point. Baby stopped growing at 7 weeks