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Am I Having a Miscarriage?
Many women know all too well the pain of having a baby die in early pregnancy, and this difficult emotional and physical trauma is known as “miscarriage”. Miscarriage most commonly occurs in the first trimester of pregnancy, but a loss of the baby at anytime before 24 weeks is still considered a miscarriage. The reason for miscarriage can be unknown in many cases , especially since 30% of women don’t even know they are pregnant when they miscarry. When there is a reason known, it is said that 50% of the time miscarriage happens because there is a chromosomal abnormality with the baby. Factors having to do with the mom include genital tract abnormalities (fibroids), infection (like rubella) or maternal disease, such as diabetes.
Miscarriage can be devastating and very scary. But although a miscarriage involves bleeding, not all bleeding during pregnancy means a miscarriage. Any bleeding during the first trimester of pregnancy must be considered a threatened miscarriage until proven otherwise. Typically, a threatened miscarriage is just bleeding, and is not followed by other signs of miscarriage, like cramps or lower backache. In these situations, the cervix is usually closed, even if the bleeding is heavy. Once the heartbeat has been detected, there is a very good chance that the baby will go to term. Even with bleeding, women that have heard their baby’s heartbeat have a 90% chance of having a full-term pregnancy.
There are a variety of reasons why bleeding that does not end in miscarriage can occur during pregnancy. Implantation bleeding happens early, before the woman even knows she might be pregnant. This kind of bleeding is usually spotting may happen at any time during the entire week of implantation, but then stops. Another reason is cervical bleeding. Because the cervix softens in pregnancy, it may be more sensitive and bleed after sex. There may also be some sort of cervical infection that is making the cervix more sensitive and “angry”. In any case, bleeding usually requires some investigation to either be called “benign” or to be treated somehow if the bleeding is the result of an infection or imbalance.
Cramping by itself in pregnancy can also be benign. One cause, other than miscarriage, can be the stretching of the ligaments (mostly felt as a pulling, achy sensation on both sides of the pubic bone). Indigestion can cause cramping, especially as internal organs are shifting around in early pregnancy. Cramping by itself can be very normal in a healthy pregnancy as the uterus gets bigger and begins to tone itself.
Bleeding and cramping together may very well mean a miscarriage is threatened or inevitable. However, other causes of bleeding and cramping include urinary tract infection (cramping, pelvic achiness, back pain), fibroids or ovarian cysts. A major cause of cramping and bleeding that may very well progress to miscarriage is poor nutrition. Giving the body what it needs to have a healthy blood flow to “build” the placenta and nourish the baby should not be overlooked. Poor nutrition is likely a very common cause of miscarriage.
Miscarriage is heartbreaking, but experiencing bleeding or cramping during pregnancy does not always mean that the pregnancy will end in that way.
