Miscarriage Rates in Pregnancy Week By Week
Nothing can be more painful in pregnancy than a miscarriage or any type of birth defect. Miscarriage is the condition when a baby is accidentally lost before the 20th week of your pregnancy. There are a lot of factors that might be responsible for miscarriage, but a new mother- to- should know what can possibly lead to miscarriage, when, how, and in which rate does miscarriage occurs in the pregnancy.
It is often found that women in almost around 50% of most of the pregnancies experience miscarriages mostly before the mother misses her periods or knows that she is pregnant. Statistically, almost 15%-25% of most of the pregnancies will experience a miscarriage.
When Do Miscarriages Happen?
Miscarriages are more likely to occur within the first half of your pregnancy, that is, within the first three months, or at least before the 20th week of your pregnancy. It is often found that almost 80% of miscarriages happen within the first or second trimester of pregnancy. So, it is very important for the mother-to-be to remain safe and maintain a healthy lifestyle and diet along with proper rest to avoid any chances of miscarriage in her pregnancy. But the chances of the occurrence of miscarriages gradually start to decrease after the 20th week of your pregnancy. Though there might be some mild chances of miscarriage after the 20th week, some physicians want to call it a ‘Late miscarriage’.
A woman is at a greater chance of experiencing miscarriage if she is pregnant at a late age, that is, after 35 or 40. She is also prone to undergo miscarriage if she has already suffered a miscarriage in her previous pregnancy.
Symptoms Of Miscarriage:
There are certain symptoms that indicate chances of miscarriage during your pregnancy. Some such symptoms of a miscarriage are as follows:
- Severe cramps and pain in the abdomen
- Mild to heavy bleeding from the vagina
- Belly cramps and pain
- Severe fatigue and weakness
- Severe back pain
- Fever with any of these symptoms
- White-pink mucus
- Contractions
- Significant loss of body weight
- Tissue that looks like blood clots passing from your vagina
- Fewer signs of pregnancy
Health Risk Factors In Miscarriage:
The most common risk factor that leads to miscarriages in most pregnancies is a lethal genetic and chromosomal disorientation of the baby while it is inside the mother’s womb, but these disorientations are not in any way related to the pregnant mother. Apart from this, there are some other problems too that may increase the risk of miscarriage. Some of those conditions can be listed as the following:
- Infections
- Type 2 Diabetes or high levels of blood sugar
- High blood pressure levels leading to preeclampsia or eclampsia
- Disorders related to the thyroid gland
- Hormonal imbalances
- Immunity related disorders
- Abnormalities in the uterine wall or tract
- Unhealthy diet and lifestyle disorders
- Excessive smoking, drinking alcohol, or intake of drugs
- Physical problems in the mother
- Exposure to radiation or toxic substances like chemicals from cosmetics
Causes Of Miscarriage:
Miscarriage is never the intentional fault of the pregnant mother. There are a number of health conditions and genetic orientations of the baby that are primarily responsible for the occurrence of miscarriage in the major cases. During pregnancy, your body undergoes immense mental, physiological, and hormonal changes that may be sometimes difficult for the body to bear with. This can also cause miscarriage. In fact, when the miscarriage occurs in the first trimester of your pregnancy, in most cases, it happens due to a lack of normal growth and development of the fetus. There are also a number of issues that may lead to miscarriage such as:
1. Genetic or chromosome- related issues
In most cases of miscarriage, it has been found that the baby is developing abnormal chromosomes and major genetic disorientations that do not let the baby develop properly and eventually lead to miscarriage.
Some such chromosomal and genetic abnormalities are as follows:
- Intrauterine fetal demise: This is an abnormality when the fetus stops further growth and development and it is lost eventually by miscarriage even before such is felt.
- Molar pregnancy: A child develops by both the contributions of the father and the mother. But if a condition occurs that both the baby’s chromosomes are coming from the paternal side, then the baby will stop growing and it will lead to miscarriage.
- Partial molar pregnancy: In some cases it may accidentally occur that along with the father’s pair of chromosomes, a set of chromosomes are coming from the mother. This will also cause miscarriage.
- Blighted ovum: This is a condition where the baby is not formed at all inside the mother’s uterus.
2. Hidden health disorders and lifestyle abnormalities
One might suffer from a number of hidden diseases that were not noticed previously or before pregnancy. These hidden and underlying health conditions and abrupt lifestyle habits may affect the growth of your child and may cause chances of miscarriage.
Some of the following practices and unhealthy lifestyles can affect fetal growth and may increase the chances of miscarriage:
- Lack of proper nutrients in the diet or unhealthy diet full of junk foods
- Excessive consumption of drugs, alcohol or even profuse smoking
- Pregnancy in late ages like 35 or 40 and more
- Diseases related to the thyroid gland
- Hormonal disorders
- High blood sugar levels or diabetes mellitus
- Excessive weight gain or obesity
- Infections
- Cervical disorders
- Abnormalities in the shape of your uterus
- Side effects of medications, drugs, or chemical exposures
- Excessively high levels of blood pressure
- Food poisoning
The Risk Rates Of Miscarriage In Pregnancy: A Week By Week Guide
The risk rates and chances of miscarriage vary from one week of pregnancy to the other. So, the mother-to-be should be aware of the risk factors related to miscarriage and when and in which week the chances are respectively high and low. In fact, according to recent studies, there are facts that the chances of the occurrence of miscarriage are extremely high before the 20th week and in the first trimester and reduce after the first trimester. (1)
Weeks 0 to 3
This is when a pregnant woman is at the highest risk of experiencing a miscarriage. In fact, in many cases within the first three weeks of pregnancy, a woman is can have a miscarriage even before she can know that she is pregnant because the heavy vaginal bleeding after miscarriage may seem like a late menstrual period.
According to a recent study and some experiments the risk factor of miscarriage in the first three weeks of pregnancy increases if the woman is pregnant at a later age of almost 35 to 40 or beyond. If the woman is pregnant at the age of 35 to 39, then the chance of miscarriage will be 75%, but this risk factor will spike up to almost 5 times if she is pregnant at the age of 40 or above.
Weeks 3–4
In the 3rd to 4th weeks of your pregnancy, according to experts, you have almost 50 to 70 % chance of having a miscarriage.
Weeks 4-6
According to recent research and related studies, the risk of having a miscarriage in the 4th to 6th weeks of your pregnancy gets lowered to almost around 21.3%.
Weeks 6–7
After the sixth week and till the seventh week of your pregnancy, the risks of having a miscarriage decrease to approximately 5%, a greater fall than the previous weeks.
Weeks 7–13
As your first trimester is coming to an end, you are almost at no chance to have a miscarriage if your health conditions are all normal. At the end of the first trimester or in the 13th week the rate of miscarriage is almost about 2–4%.
Weeks 13–20
As you are gradually approaching the 20th week of your pregnancy, you are less likely to experience miscarriage and according to recent studies. the chance of having a miscarriage comes down to almost 5% to 1%.
Other risk factors of Miscarriage:
If you have experienced a miscarriage in your very first pregnancy, then there is no compulsion that will experience the same the next time you try for it. In fact, in recent studies and experiments, it has been found that women who had suffered miscarriage before in their pregnancy will become mothers soon.
But there are some potential risk factors for pregnancy loss. Some of them are as follows:
- Conceiving at an older age
- Excessive smoking or drinking alcohol and use of drugs
- Having too much of caffeine each day
- Chronic disorders like diabetes, high blood pressure, and hormonal imbalances.
