Providing a listening ear and expert guidance on your next steps after recurrent pregnancy loss.
Experiencing a miscarriage is a life-altering experience for many women. For some, the heartbreak happens more than once. If you have experienced two more miscarriages, I recommend you seek the advice of a fertility specialist with recurrent miscarriage management expertise.
First and foremost, it’s important to acknowledge the emotional toll that comes with a pregnancy loss. Give yourself space to grieve.
It is also equally important to avoid laying blame on yourself as in a significant proportion of cases, there is nothing you could have done to avoid it.
Several resources are available for women and their partners going through pregnancy loss. If you need this support, I can point you in the right direction.
We can’t always identify a reason for repeated pregnancy loss. However, we do know that the older the woman, the higher the rates of miscarriage.
Some potential causes of recurrent pregnancy loss can include:
Chromosomal anomalies passed on from either or both partners can increase the risk of a pregnancy not making it to full term.
To develop well, an embryo needs a certain environment. Abnormalities of the uterus, including fibroids, intrauterine adhesions (bands of scar tissue inside the uterus), and a septate uterus (the uterus is divided by a membrane), are associated with miscarriage in the first and second trimesters.
Antiphospholipid syndrome, a thrombophilic (blood clotting) disorder that can cause miscarriage by affecting how blood flows through the placenta, a new organ formed during pregnancy to support your growing baby.
Hormones play a significant role in pregnancy. Conditions such as hypothyroidism and poorly controlled diabetes can disrupt normal hormone levels needed for a healthy pregnancy.
Certain environmental and lifestyle factors are associated with all miscarriages, not just recurrent pregnancy loss. Cigarette smoking, alcohol and caffeine consumption, and recreational drug use are all known to increase the risk of pregnancy loss.
Damage to the genetic material in sperm may contribute to recurrent pregnancy losses. We can test for sperm DNA fragmentation through advanced semen analysis.
My experience and expertise enables me to care for couples experiencing recurrent pregnancy loss with compassion and evidence-based guidance. Choosing the right approach to managing your situation relies on a thorough investigation of any identifiable underlying causes.
Depending on the results of your testing, I may recommend one or more of the following treatments to improve your chances of a healthy pregnancy:
It’s important to know that despite having experienced multiple miscarriages, it is still possible to conceive naturally and carry a pregnancy to full term. In fact, up to 70% of women with no known underlying cause to their pregnancy losses go on to birth a healthy baby.
