How many miscarriages are too many?

[MAgirl75]

I'm at four, and not doing well after my last D&C 28 days ago. I'm starting to feel helpless.

I'm so sorry for your losses I can't imagine going through that.

For me just one almost broke me. I found it incredibly hard and felt like giving up. I even found the trying after far too much emotionally and almost resigned myself to being childless. However I carried on and am now 6.5 weeks and absolutely scared witless. Midwife won't send me for an early scan so I feel like a time bomb waiting to go off!

Sorry I have nothing more practical to add but hopefully they will be able to test to see if there is a reason which could help you if you continue trying. Good luck and

So sorry, hon. Have you been offered any testing to ascertain why they keep happening? We went through a series of tests after my fourth miscarriage. They didn't really find anything conclusive ( we also had infertility issues) but for this, my fifth pregnancy, I've been given heparin and aspirin as a clotting disorder I have may have been the cause of the losses. I've made it to 23 weeks and things seem to be okay so there is hope. You need to get some answers, talk to your GP about getting a referral. It really is horrendous to keep going through what you're feeling now,so sorry xxx

Really sorry to hear this, OP. Too many is when you can't take any more and would prefer to give up than try again, or when you're told that you're seriously endangering your health by keeping on going. It's your decision really. Don't think you need to decide now - I too have had a bad time after D&Cs, and you really need to be in the right place mentally to even think about trying again. Are you under any investigation as to why this keeps happening?

Dunno if this will help or not, but a midwife I used to see told me after my MC that she had been looking after one woman who was on her eighth pg after seven consecutive MCs. They didn't know what had caused them, but this woman had been determined to keep on going as she felt she would suffer less from another MC than from the decision not to try any more. At the time I was told, she was about 20 weeks if I remember rightly, and all was going well. No-one seemed to know what made this pg different from all the others, but she'd never got beyond 12 weeks before.

Sorry to hear about your losses. I had three consecutive mcs and it was dreadful. I got treatment on the nhs and now have a DC.

Go to your Gp and ask to be treated for recurrent mc. Good luck.

So sori for your loose :( After 3 miscarriages you should be referred to a specialist ,through your Gp . They do an abundance of tests on you to see if they can find out a cause , sometimes there is no cause as this was the case for me & my dp , we were told that we were perfectly healthy at the time this didn't help us as we couldn't understand why this kept happening . My consultant told me that if I was pregnant again i would get Clexane injections to thin my blood incase of tiny clots that can stop development leading mc's . Hope this helps Pm me for a chat anytime

MAgirl I'm on my 6th pregnancy after 5 miscarriages; I'm currently 38 weeks pregnant. I had treatment for NK cells privately through Mr Shehata.

Getting through a miscarriage is incredibly tough, several consecutive miscarriages is soul destroying. My partner and I have had some very dark days over the last few years.

As posters have said above, get in touch with your GP and ask to be referred for recurrent mc tests. You will have several lots of blood taken to check for hormone levels, clotting issues and genetic factors. It might be that something as simple as aspirin could help you. If NHS tests prove inconclusive (like they did for me) there are private options.

The conception boards are very useful for info. Please feel free to PM me if you want. Take care xx

So sorry you are going through this... I had 4 and it was the worst thing ever. I had 3 before my son and 1 before this pregnancy (currently 38 weeks).
I hated when they said that but the good thing is you got pregnant..but it is. Maybe Insist for some tests though to put your mind at ease?

I gave my body a 2 months break from trying and went on holiday for a break to recover. Thats when I fell pregnant with my son.

Wishing you the best of luck, dont hesitate if you have questions xx

you poor thing, so sorry you have to go through this, I had one and it completely crushed me. It is utterly devasting and it is extremely hard to pick yourself up and go after that, especially to keep on trying. You don't say anything about your medical history, but I made a massive fuss after one( I do have endometriosis) . I am glad I did as after investigations it turned I had problems with natural killer cells, for which I had treatment not in this country and it worked for me. Definitely go and see your GP and insist on referral to recurrent miscarriage clinic. It is your body and you have the right to know if everything is fine or not and not have to go through unnecessary pain. Wish you all the best of luck ! Miracles do happen.

I think it depends at what stage you are M/C and what the reason might be. Have they tested anything to find out what might be happening?

A close family member has had two post 25 weeks M/C this year. It is very sad as both babies were at a stage where they could have been survived but both died in the womb. The first was clearly not viable. They did an autopsy on the 2nd, as she was perfect but small. They believe it was problems with the placenta.

The pregnancy lupus thing runs in our family and two members have had to have the Anti-clotting injections to carry to term. One after 3 M/C but now has two lovely DCs. My own DD2 will be tested at some stage as now we are aware of it .

I am sorry for your losses. I would be asking lots of questions and pushing for some tests to see what is going on. There is plenty of hope for you so don't give up.

Thanks for your feedback. I'm in Canada, and been to a specialist here for many tests - all came back normal. They seem helpless to fix it. I'm being refered to a specialist in Toronto and waiting to get on a miscarraige program with him. Though, ConeyIslandBaby, I've seen Mr Shehata and he said I had killer cells, and prescribed me his treatment - the problem is that I returned to Canada with the idea that my doctor here would prescribe me the treatment (he had said he would try benign treatments) but found the recommendation too much and wouldn't do it. Thus the referal to the Toronto doctor who will also likely not do it either. I'm at a point that if I have two more miscarraiges, I'm flying back to the UK and Dr Shehata and getting the treatment (though, after the last DC I have been so sick and on so many meds, I've not had a period in three months and fear something is not right.)

Hubby's friend has a healthy toddler now but it took then 7 MC before they got there. I say don't give up. xxxx

MAgirl75 - in answer to your question of how many is too many - that is a totally personal situation. I am on pregnancy number 16, with 12 first trimester miscarriages so far. After each miscarriage I said I could not do it again, but then after a bit found the strength to try again.

I have not been diagnosed with high killer cells as have not been tested for this, but have found a doctor willing to throw everything at this pregnancy, so I am on prednisolone, aspirin, heparin, as well as high dose folic acid. From my reading around the research, I read that mild clotting issues become more significant the more miscarriages you have (I had a positive TEG test while miscarrying, all other clotting tests normal), so I am pleased to be on the heparin and aspirin, I had an ANA+ test (this can be considered normal) but the prednisolone is for this. I can't do anymore this time.

I found that as I went through more miscarriages my coping methods changed each time. For the last miscarriage, I actually did the head in the sand approach and took no medications at all. I think that you can only do what is right for you. I did go for counselling after several miscarriages, and it was helpful to deal with the grief that had built up despite the pregnancies all being first trimester losses. Some miscarriages hit me harder than others, and this had no relation to how early or late they were, it was just the head space I was in at the time combined with how the miscarriage happened each time (reabsorbed/medical intervention/delayed).

Since you have been diagnosed with killer cells, I think that getting some of the research by Prof Quenby, and taking it to your appointment in Toronto might be helpful in putting forward your case for trying prednisolone.

In the news recently has been the reports of the of the woman having a baby after 20 miscarriages (following Shantala's treatment). It all depends on what you are willing to do. Only you can decide how much is too much for you. I hope that knowing that there are others that have been there too helps a little.

I wondered at what point we'd stop trying after having my third and being sent for tests, which came back as normal.

I got pregnant again and had bleeding and lost the twin of my now 13 year old DD.

At the time, my midwife was dealing with someone who'd had their 13th mc. I felt for them.

Good luck with your journey.

You are entitled to testing after 3 on the NHS. I would urge you to push for this. There's a very good thread on recurrent MC over on the miscarriage page of MN Talk (very supportive). The miscarriage association can also advise.

You shouldn't have to suffer the worry of going on and on with no answers.

Several of us over there have had tests, some have found treatable reasons, others have simply accessed better care making it easier to face the future.

Every woman is different, I've had 3 losses. My son at 23 weeks and 2 at 6 weeks.. I'm now 26 weeks tomorrow with a little girl, i did nearly loose her at 18 weeks but luckily I admited myself and a stitch was place :-). Don't give up, so many losses aren't explained but quite a lot of woman do go on to have a healthy baby. It was fourth time lucky for me :-)

Don't give up. X

Thanks for this feedback. I've just had my 5th miscarriage now at 9 weeks. I'm not ready to give up, but its starting to make me think that maybe I can't carry. My doctor mentioned that a test on the fetus could diagnose if it is a gestational carrier issue. Would that mean that I would need a surrogate?

willibe - thanks for your response!

Hi I've had five recurrent miscarriages with no live children. I am currently 33 weeks pregnant. I was referred to a recurrent miscarriage clinic after the third miscarriage and have a very mild blood thickening disorder when pregnant, so I am taking double dose aspirin as prescribed by my consultant until 34 weeks. However those blood disorder didn't cause my miscarriages. The remains of the last two miscarriages, I had D and Cs were sent away for genetic testing both cane back with chromosomal disorders, trimosy 13 and trimosy 7 both incompatible with life. I have been told it is very likely my first three miscarriages were chromosomal disorders. Fortunately this pregnancy has progressed well, and we did nearly give up after number five, as I'm now 42. It does takes its toll on your emotions and body goings through so many miscarriages but we always hoped we would have that one healthy egg/sperm that would make it. All my miscarriages were in the first trimester from 6 weeks to 12 weeks. I had d and Cs on all but the 6 week one.

I wish the best for you and I am sorry to hear you've had another miscarriage.

magirl I have only had one miscarriage, as there was lots of fluid on the baby aeen at the scan during my d&c they took samples for genetic testing. It was discovered the baby had an extremely rare chromosome disorder, deletion of part of chromosome 1. Due to the rareness both my husband and myself were tested to see if we were carriers.

It came back that dh is fine :) and I have a disorder called triple x! Which I knew nothing of, but quite common. 1 in 1000, have.

Due to this we were given genetic counselling, and loads of extra scans and appointments when I fell pregnant.

Good luck, please pm me if you need any more information :)

Im so sorry for your losses but please don't loose hope. I have had 16 miscarriages ranging from 6 to 16 weeks, I'm now 32weeks pregnant with a active baby boy, and naturally too ( all be it as a massive ooops as I wasn't even trying)

I found out I had a balanced chromosomal translocation so it was luck of the draw if the egg I caught was viable so I persevered.

Take time to heal. Xx

This post might start off sounding negative, but its not. My SIL buried 7 children (2 x sets of twins, 3 single children) along with miscarring early on a couple of times. She was told there was no 'real reason' as to why the pregnancies were not successful. She almost drove herself crazy over it. Her husband forced her to get counseling. It really helped. Then she got pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. She went on to have 2 more beautiful children (and 1 more MC). She has been my inspiration to never give up hope. I know things seem bleak now, but I'm hoping things turn around for you too. Much love. X