2 Consecutive Missed Miscarriages

[EJT91]

Hi,

im looking for a bit of advice. Today I found out I’d had my second missed miscarriage. The first one was 4 years ago. Turned up to my 12 week scan without any concerns, to be told my pregnancy hadn’t progressed past 6 weeks. This time around I was a paranoid mess so went for an early reassurance scan at 6+3 and there was strong heartbeat detected. Over the the last week I’ve had a bad feeling that something wasn’t right, so went for another scan today to be told the pregnancy ended around week 7. I’ve done everything I should be doing, taken all my vitamins and it has happened again. Has anyone else got experience of this and was any help offered to get the bottom of why it was happening? I’m going to have to have medical management again😕 any advice would be amazing! We’re devastated 💔

@EJT91 so sorry your going through this, it's utterly heartbreaking 💔 I lost my first at ten weeks not picked up until my first scan at 14 weeks (they were behind and I wasn't worried as I'd had a healthy pregnancy previously 7 years ago) I then went on to having natural miscarriages at 6 weeks and the following one at 5 weeks, im currently 5 + 5 today and now under EPU awaiting scan on Friday at 6+3 after my 3rd loss my Dr referred me to a consultant who did some blood work and discovered I have raised anticardiolipin antibodies which relates to blood clotting I was due further tests end of September but fallen pregnant before so he referred me to EPU and after my scan if all is well il be commenced on clexane and asprin and monitored more closely, I'm not sure which area u are but unfortunately where I an they won't refer you until you have had 3 consecutive losses so maybe talk to ur gp and see what ur options are, once again sorry for your loss 😔 xx

So sorry to hear about your losses. It’s truly devastating and I remember those feelings all so well.

I had 3 consecutive missed miscarriages from 2020 - 2022. We got our last loss genetically tested which showed a chromosomal imbalance. This meant the pregnancy would have never been compatible with life (no matter how much medication there is!). So that gave us closure in a way but no explanation for the previous two.

We managed to get a referral to professor quenby at Coventry hospital (specialist recurrent miscarriage clinic). I had a full blood count, clotting tests, endometrial tests, natural killer cell testing and all of my results came back normal. We also had karayotyping on both me and my partner which was normal. They were confident that it had been a batch of “bad luck” and to try again. We now have a 4 week old Son snoozing away.

Check out Tommys website and referrals to recurrent miscarriage clinic. I’m sure they are changing the referral process now as there has been so much go to parliament about changing the care that women receive during this awful time.

For now, take bloody good care of yourself. Allow yourself the time you need and please don’t give up. Xx

I forgot to say that I was prescribed progesterone for this pregnancy that I was successful with - but there was nothing to indicate I had low progesterone levels. It’s difficult to gauge if it had any benefit or not. I was also on Clexane the entire time due to a previous PE. Again, so sorry for your loss. I just hope you find this useful/informative.

Thank you! I’m so sorry for your losses as well and I hope your next scan goes well ❤️ it’s just so awful when you have no symptoms of anything being wrong and then all of a sudden they tell you there’s no heartbeat xx

Sorry for your losses. If you can afford it, you could go to a private clinic for an early loss Mot. I went to a place called London Gynaecology and had a lot of tests done. They found I had MTHFR gene which affects how you process folic acid. Gynaecologist wrote to my GP and prescribed baby aspirin, progesterone for next pregnancy plus 800mg per of methylfolate which is an alternative to folic acid. I now have a 12 week old baby.

Even if you can't go private you could still see if you could get progesterone for next pregnancy and baby aspirin is available in boots.good luck

I love a story of hope! I think because my last one was 4 years ago (it was an unplanned pregnancy so decided to wait to try again until we were ready) I just assumed it would be fine this time. Hopefully we can get some answers. We want to try again but my partner wants us to have some tests first. Which I understand. He said we will have to pay private is need be. So glad you got your happy ever after ❤️

Thankyou, please dont lose hope! I remember feeling so lost after second one but miscarriage is so common unfortunately and many people still go on to have success. This was the clinic and package I had https://www.london-gynaecology.com/self-pay-packages/recurrent-miscarriage-testing/

It's not cheap but it was very thorough and they can write to your GP or do referrals to NHS if the tests show anything significant.

Thank you all for your lovely comments! The general consensus I’m getting from here and other forums is that through the nhs nothing will really be done until I have a 3rd miscarriage. It seems so cruel that I potentially have to put myself through this again, knowing what the outcome will be just to get some help 😞 I think it’s a real indicator that something is going wrong between 6-7 weeks for me, as both pregnancies have ended then.

@EJT91 just wanted to reach out this morning to check ur ok? I know things don't get better over night but please take some time to rest and look after urself xx

@Cinderz123 how lovely of you to message ☺️ I’m not feeling great today. Very teary and sad. I’m just confused as to why it keeps happening. I need to call the EPU today to see what the next steps are, which I’m dreading. They weren’t great for me last time and left me 4 months before actually removing the pregnancy tissue. It was extremely traumatic and I never want to go through that again 😞

No - the rules have changed (Google Myleene Klass miscarriage) - you can start getting investigations after 2. These aren't as extensive as after 3 but you can get going. FBC (including vit D and ferritin and thyroid), day 2 and day 21 hormones, etc.

Have you read It Starts with the Egg?

How old are you and were you actively trying to conceive in the 4 years in between?

I didn’t know that, I will take a look, thank you. I’m 31 and no we weren’t trying in between. This was our first “go” I seem to conceive quickly but then it doesn’t progress past 6 weeks.

Have your two pregnancies been with the same partner? Sorry am unclear from your posts.

Also worth seeing if your hospital can do genetic testing on the pregnancy material if you pay for it to be done privately.

I did this after my 2nd consecutive MC (I'm now pregnant for 3rd time, 17wk). I was also about to go for a private consultation, didn't intend to just get pregnant again and expect a different result.

For this pregnqncy i was on progesterone from the point of my positive test having been prescribed it after a bleed in my 2nd. I will never know whether this has made the difference and I didn't have evidence of a progesterone deficiency in the tests i had done before this pregnancy

@Whataretheodds sorry I should have been more clear! No it’s not the same person. Myself and my last partners pregnancy was unplanned and we split shortly after the loss. I’ve been with my current partner 3 years and we only decided to try a few months ago. I was using the natural cycles app so had a pretty good handle on my ovulation and luckily we conceived first time. I never bleed in my pregnancies which is why it’s always a shock when they say there’s no heartbeat. I’d like to try anything I can though and maybe a combination of aspirin and progesterone may help me? I will see what my GP says and how helpful he’s feeling. amazing news about your current pregnancy. Is it all going well? Did you have missed miscarriages with your previous pregnancies or did they pass on their own?

I am on aspirin now but was told NOT to take it in 1st trimester until after the 12 week scan. I'm on it because of my age to avoid pre- eclampsia.

I think there's a lot of aspirin recommendation on here, not sure it's always a good idea to self-prescribe.

My 1st started with bleeding at 11weeks *but they said growth had stopped a few weeks before). 2nd I had a brief (< 1 day) bleed at 6.5w, had a scan afterwards, there was a faint heartbeat, 2 weeks later there was none.

MMC is hard because you feel like you can't trust your body. I had the surge of nausea at 9/10 weeks in 2nd pregnancy despite there being no viable foetus by that point.

Oh really? How old are you if you don’t mind me asking? I won’t self prescribe, I wouldn’t dare in case something happened. I meant I think I will mention it to my doctor and see what they say. Hopefully they will let me have some tests. Miscarriage is just hard in general and you have no idea what’s going on 😞 I had all the symptoms and still do, along with a positive pregnancy test. My body is obviously doing something to the foetus when it gets to a certain point to make it so it can’t survive. The heartbeat was so strong when we went for the scan at 6+3 and then nothing.

@EJT91 I'm so sorry for your losses, my story is very similar to yours. Had a loss (MMC at 10+4) with my ex 4 years ago, and last month had another loss with my new partner (who I've been with for 3 years) at 10+1. First time around we had a good scan at 7 weeks, but heart stopped at 9 weeks. Second time we had bad news at the scan at 7+4 (really slow heartbeat) followed by another bad scan with no growth, and finally the confirmation that baby's heart had stopped basically right after the second scan, so at around 8 weeks.

I've got a call with my GP this evening where I'm going to push for blood tests (as per the new guidance).

Aspirin has been proven to help reduce late term miscarriage in those who have had a previous late term miscarriage (i.e. after 13 weeks) but hasn't yet been proven to have any effect on early miscarriages. Progesterone has been proven to have a positive impact in early miscarriages for those who have had at least 1 previous miscarriage and experience bleeding in a current pregnancy.

I get what you say about thinking something is wrong because they happened at the same time in the pregnancy, I feel the same. I'm definitely going to go for an early scan at 9- 91/2 weeks in any future pregnancy. I don't want to wait until 12 weeks just to be told news I could have heard weeks before x

@moosey89 wow, our stories are very similar! Did it worry you more that the same thing has happened 4 years on? I think that’s the bit that got to me more than anything because my bodies had 4 years to sort itself out and it’s what makes me think there is an actual problem? I’m at the EPU on Wednesday so going to ask about blood tests then. I’m not sure progesterone would help in my case tbh because I never bleed. On both occasions my body has had to be forced to expel the pregnancy. I want to be positive and try again but part of me is just terrified this will happen again 😞 my partner doesn’t want to try again until we’ve had some form of testing, which I completely understand. I hope you’re feeling ok and you get some answers too x

100% baby aspirin. It's totally safe. Was advised this immediately by a very senior very experience consultant at Liverpool Royal Hospital.

Ask to be checked to see if you have Factor V Leiden. Surprisingly common but lots of people don't know they have it. Only becomes an issue in pregnancy or in the case of extreme injury. It was what my problem was.

If you don't feel safe taking baby aspirin (it's a very low dose) ask at your appointment.

I am on aspirin now but was told NOT to take it in 1st trimester until after the 12 week scan

I was specifically told the opposite. Just saying.

If you have Factor V leiden the reason the foetus doesn't survive is because your blood is clotting and preventing nutrients from getting there. Once the baby is fairly established, the baby aspirin can stop. Although my doctor advised to keep taking it anyway as it was not harmful in any way to either myself or the baby.

OP rule out Factor V leiden - please.

Yep, it's really hard when you've seen a heartbeat. Mine was strong in the 1st pregnancy, the 2nd one I got a feeling was never quite right (I also had a big SCH in that pregnancy).

I'm now 42, I was 41 when I first got pregnant.

Ask about everything in your appointment, and if they say no/not worth it/not for you make sure they explain why. I'm not saying don't take aspirin (or indeed that progesterone is the cure) - there are still many many different causes of unexplained miscarriage.

I hope it works out for you

@EJT91 So similar! So the second pregnancy I definitely found myself thinking a lot more about what could go wrong. I googled the chance of a successful pregnancy at x weeks like every single day. I tried to be optimistic but it was so hard - having not had any babies I had no proof it was possible for it to go ok, if that makes sense.

My big concern, given they happened so far apart and in such a similar way is that there's something wrong genetically, that I'm passing to the baby which means the pregnancy isn't surviving. Especially since both are missed miscarriages, and I've had so many fertility tests that showed my hormones and my 'hardware' i.e. tubes, womb lining etc are all spot on. I'm hoping the GP can give me the blood tests needed to start the process for genetic testing, but if not then I'll go private I think. I'm also seeing a reflexologist and acupuncturist to help get my cycle as regular and healthy as possible, saw no harm in it and both really relax me and at least help me feel a little more in control of my body! Do you know if you'd want to try again soon, or take some time off?x

@moosey89 I was the exact same. I told every supplement going, googled everything I did to make sure it was safe during pregnancy and googled every food. In my first pregnancy I never had any private scans because I didn’t feel the need to, but this time I had 2. One with a strong heartbeat and one with none. I thought the same about genetics and like you say, wondered if it was something wrong with my genetics because I have no other children either to compare a healthy pregnancy to. It’s like my body is just rejecting the pregnancy. It’s so nice to speak to someone who has gone through pretty much the exact same thing at the exact same times in life. We want to try again but after Christmas I think. Just to give us some time to recover and also we go abroad on 15th December. My partner has said after Christmas we will go private if the NHS won’t help and get every test they offer so we can get some answers and hopefully get some preventative measures in place for next time. Do you think you will try straight away?

@EJT91 same! I was healthy, did sensible regular exercise, ate as well as I could, stayed hydrated, took my supplements etc... it's so frustrating that you can do everything right but it still ends badly.

We are trying again right away, but this is partly because I turn 35 in Feb and I want to give myself until then before going back to the doctor to take things further if I'm not pregnant by then (seemed like a good cut off). Also because we had bad news at 7 weeks, but the pregnancy only ended at 10 weeks, I had 3 weeks to process and start grieving before the miscarriage actually happened. Whilst those 3 weeks were hell, I would choose that any day over the shock of going to a scan thinking everything is ok (like I did in my first pregnancy) and finding out it's not. My first pregnancy took 2.5 years to conceive as well, so that one really broke me. This one took 6 months, but only 3 of those were really 'trying' with the precise timing etc. so it doesn't feel quite as devastating if that makes sense.

If your partner is up for it, it's a good idea for him to get his sperm tested too, to rule out any issues his side. It's the only test they have to do and clearly it's much less invasive and simple than what we have to go through! The EPU at my hospital has already said I can have progesterone from the outset as there's not any risk associated and it might just help. I'll take anything at this stage to be honest, I really don't want to have a third. x

It is upsetting. Yes, that sounds good and as long as you’re ready that’s all that matters. After my last one my cycle took months to regulate itself again, which is why I’m kind of waiting a bit longer just to make sure I’m fit as a fiddle ready to go again. He will get any test they offer him. Considering I’ve had the same thing happen twice with 2 different partners I’m 99% I’m the problem. He also has a child with a previous partner with no complications. The fact that we would have to have a third to get any help on the nhs is what is really bothering me. Just the physical and emotional toll it takes is crippling. My partner is point blank refusing to try again without any intervention because he has seen the affect it has on me. Please please please stay in touch and let me know how you get on! Feel free to message privately ☺️