Recurrent miscarriage advice

[CWC]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone who has been suffered from recurrent loss has any advice for doctors, clinics or tests.

I have had 3 clinical miscarriages and 2 missed miscarriages, and despite having many tests through my local hospital and Tommy’s, everything keeps coming back normal except for my AMH level which is low (although all DRs so far has reassured that it’s not an issue).

I’m not sure where to go after my latest loss and therefore was looking for any advice or recommendations.

Thank you in advance

@CWC Sorry to hear about your losses. I see you have had a lot of tests but just wanted to mention the following, which aren't so common and might cause issues....

MTHFR mutation
Immunology
Celiac disease

@Objectiontime Thank you so much for your reply.

I haven’t been tested for celiac disease the or MTHFR mutation.

I think the only immunology test I’ve had is for APS, for which my first test came back positive but the follow up test came back negative, so the doctors appear to have ruled that out.

I will speak to my doctor about testing for all of these. Thank you!

Hello, I can't of much help sorry, I've had 2 miscarriages but no testing so far. What might be good is 'the worst girl gang ever' podcast. Its based on miscarriages, women finding out what's going on for them etc...you might find something relatable and research it. I know the host Laura had around 7 miscarriages, and the professionals wouldn't listen to what she had to say, only to try her on the meds that she asked for years ago for them to work. Don't be afraid to speak up if something relates to you! Hope you're okay.

@Eirlys75 Thank you, I’ll definitely give that a listen. Such a good name for a podcast, I feel like it sums it up perfectly.

Sorry to hear about your miscarriages and that you’re also doing ok.

Sorry for your losses op

i had 6 mc before my daughter , standard nhs testing came back as normal

The only thing I did privately was go to prof Brosens at Coventry where I had 2 womb biopsies which showed I had very low nk cells which correlates with poor implantation . I took sitagliptin for 3 months which is meant to increase stem sells in the womb . I then conceived for the 6th time and had another loss . Two weeks after I conceived again and the pregnancy was txtbook just like my sons before the miscarriages . I never had any of my losses tested so I had no concrete answers and I don't know if the treatment from Brosens made a difference. I took no additional meds not even progesterone

x

Hi,

I had three miscarriages and after the third I was referred to the miscarriage clinic. I spoke to the head of the clinic who ran tests (which turned up nothing) but he said that next time I became pregnant to let them know and they would start HCG injections and weekly scans. He basically said that they know very little about the causes of miscarriages but did say that some of it seems to be psychological and women having weekly scans from 7 weeks has some kind of an effect on women which can help to prevent miscarriages. All I can say is that starting the HCG and scans as soon as I became pregnant led to a healthy baby 9 months later. Miscarriages are so heartbreaking so I’m really sorry that you’re going through it, allow yourself time to recover physically and mentally and maybe ask about HCG injections.

Sorry about your losses.

I only had standard blood tests. I took years to conceive at all then had two miscarriages. I was told my thyroxine levels were borderline (this can lead to infertility and miscarriages) and if I lost another I would need to be on thyroxine for the rest of my life. I gave myself a little break from trying for three months and got myself as healthy as possible (physically and mentally) I then tried again and went onto have two healthy babies in fairly quick succession.

Take care.

@Scorpion84 Thank you for your reply. I’m sorry to hear about all your losses but glad to hear you got your baby in the end, it brings me some hope x

@Leedslady2025 Thank you for your kind message. I hadn’t heard about HCG injections before, so will definitely ask about it.

I’ve now been offered extra scans from 6 weeks next time I get pregnant, so hopefully that will help too.

Sorry to hear about your losses too, but so happy to hear you got your healthy baby in the end x

Thank you for your message, sorry to hear about your losses but so lovely to hear you got your babies after all the heartache.

I think that’s good advice on the physical and mental health side, I will definitely start looking after myself more. Thank you x

Have any of your losses been tested for genetic issues? I have recurrent miscarriage and was diagnosed with chromosomal abnormalities in December after they tested my last loss, and then took bloods from me and my partner. It's not all that common, only around 5% of people who have the blood tests done show an issue (and the tests are only done after 3+ losses so that's 5% of the 1% who have recurrent losses) but it's another potential thing to check.

@Moosey898 thank you for your message.

They sent one of my pregnancies off for testing in September but I’m still waiting for the results. They told me it could take up to 6 months to hear back from them.

Sorry to hear about your miscarriages, what does your diagnosis mean for you? Now that they know they issue are they able to support you with it?

@CWC yeah it takes a while - think mine was 3 months then another 3 months for my blood tests to come back because they have to go to specialist centres.

So essentially my options are:
IVF with pre genetic testing (qualify for 3 rounds on the NHS)
IVF with egg donation
Risk it naturally
Stop trying

With option 3 I'd have additional support from the Fetal Medicine Unit at St George's with additional tests and scans throughout any pregnancy.

We are going for number 4 - there's too much uncertainty and risks with option 1 (don't know if I'd even get 1 egg from egg collection and then still the regular risk of miscarriage, low chance of success per cycle etc). Don't want to do egg donation, just not right for me. Don't want to risk it naturally as the risks are pretty high. But it's such a personal decision. I know people that have/would go for all of these options in my situation x

@Moosey898 it shocks me how long everything takes from appointments to results. It’s so mentally tough as it leaves you in limbo for such a long time.

I’m so sorry, it must have been so difficult for you to make that decision. You’re right, it’s so personal and you have to make the right decision for you and your family.

Thank you for your reply and I hope you’re doing ok x

Thanks @CWC - it's such a hard decision. And I still go back in my brain and ask if I'm really ready to stop. But I know deep down I am and it's the right time. Hope you are doing ok too - it's such a stressful and emotional thing to go through but on the surface no one would know. Makes it even harder I find xx

@Moosey898 Sorry for the slow reply!

I can completely understand that. Must be hard to listen to gut when your brain is saying something else. Hopefully they’ll align soon and make things ever so slightly easier on you.

I’m doing ok, thank you. I’m currently waiting to speak to some specialists and somehow I’m finding the not trying a bit of a relief, for once.

It’s so true. I feel really happy to have found Mumsnet and this community of people who understand how horrific it is to experience baby loss as it makes me feel less alone x

Hi @CWC sorry to hear about your losses. There's lots of great advice in the thread but you might also want to look into sperm dna fragmentation testing for your partner as there's increasing evidence that high levels of DNA fragmentation make miscarriages more likely. Best of luck

Hi, I'm so sorry to hear of your losses . I've been there and it's heartbreaking.

I had six - but managed to have my DD thanks to a referral to Dr Shehatas clinic at Epsom. My NHS tests for recurrent miscarriage all came back normal, I was told to just keep trying. But the tests for NK cells at Dr Shehatas clinic found my NK cells were aggressive which was causing my losses. I was put on a treatment plan including high dose folic acid and vitamin d, progesterone and steroids. After another loss they added hydroxy chloroquine. The result was my daughter.

If you can afford his private clinic it's faster, but I got it on NHS following the first opinion referral system.

I hope this helps, it was the most awful time but there is hope. Sending hugs

I went to the recurrent miscarriage clinic at St Mary's. I ended up with a baby (I know not everyone will).

I’m so sorry, it’s heartbreaking.

Have you tried taking 150mg aspirin per day each night from a positive test? I had 3 mc and did that with my 4th pregnancy and all worked out (I’d also had a healthy pg around 9 years previously). I’ll never know for sure if it was the aspirin but my gut says that made the difference. Apparently some people get very slightly clotting blood when pregnant, enough to affect a very tiny foetus but not affect you. They generally test you when you aren’t pregnant so it probably won’t show up as an issue in recurrent mc tests.

@Applecrumble11 Thank you for your message.

I've heard a little bit about DNA fragmentation but will look into getting my husband tested. Thank you!

@ThanksMrNarwhal Thank you for your message, and sorry to hear about your losses too, but I'm so happy to hear you now have a daughter.

I've actually booked in to see Mr Shehata next week (thanks to some lovely advice I received on here), so I hope I'll have similar success to you.

I'm really worried about the fees, but I got so fed up of waiting around for appointments and feeling so hopeless. Fingers crossed he'll be able to help x

@RaspberryBeretxx Thank you for your reply and sorry to hear about your losses too.

I took 150mg of aspirin alongside heparin injections and progesterone for my 4th pregnancy, but sadly it still ended in loss.

I was going to do the same for my 5th pregnancy but had some conflicting advice from a different doctor who told me aspirin and heparin could increase the risk of miscarriage. I decided not to take them based on his advice but I regret it now as I felt they helped last time, despite the loss. x

Ah, sorry to hear that. I really hope you find some answers.

I thinks someone mentioned this upthread but I believe that some people have slightly underactive thyroid - not enough to require supplementation (so doctors will say "normal") but can cause miscarriages. It might be worth checking the actual figures for any thyroid test you've had in case medication would help.

@RaspberryBeretxx Ohh interesting. Thank you for sharing, I'll look into it! x