Steps You Can Take To Stop It Happening Again
If you are Trying To Conceive After Miscarriage, there are a few steps you can take to prevent it happening again.
But before we go into the reasons why a woman may miscarry, did you know that approximately half of all eggs that are fertilised never make it to a viable pregnancy?
It is also estimated that 1 in every 4 women will lose a baby in the first trimester and about 1 in every 200 couples will have more than 2 consecutive miscarriages.
There are several reasons why miscarriages happen but we will look at the 4 main reasons here:
1. Chromosomal/ Foetal Abnormality: This is simply your body’s way of rejecting a foetus that is not viable and it is not an inherited genetic problem.
This could happen for a variety of reasons, it could be that the sperm was not as good as it ought to be or the woman’s egg was not as healthy as it ought to be.
There are some simple steps you can take to ensure that your eggs are healthy and that your partner’s sperm as also healthy, we will look at these later on.
2. Progesterone Deficiency: In early pregnancy, your body produces the hormone progesterone, which is needed to support the growing foetus.
Your body produces this hormone right from conception until around week 12 when the baby’s placenta is developed enough to supply the baby will all the nutrients it needs.
Natural Progesterone Tablets Are Safer
Unfortunately some women don’t produce enough of this important hormone in early pregnancy when it is crucial for the survival of the foetus.
A woman that does not produce enough progesterone during early pregnancy is likely to suffer repeated miscarriages.
So if you are trying to conceive after a miscarriage, it is important that get a through medical examination to ensure that you are not deficient in progesterone.
Fortunately, if you are progesterone deficient, you can take a progesterone supplement which will prevent you suffering a miscarriage again.
It is important though that you take natural progesterone supplement and not the synthetic version.
Synthetic progesterone is actually called progestin and it is so dangerous it can even cause a spontaneous abortion.
So to sum it up, get yourself tested for progesterone deficiency and ensure that if you have to take progesterone supplements, you are taking the natural and not the synthetic version.
3. Autoimmune Miscarriages: It is possible for a woman to miscarry a pregnancy because her body produces antibodies which fights growing foetus. In essence her body is seeing the pregnancy as a foreign body that it needs to get rid of.
The solution is usually the prescription of baby aspirin, anti inflammatory and anti clotting drugs.
4. Celiac disease is a genetic condition that causes those affected to have difficulty in absorbing nutrients from the food they eat. This condition is mainly caused by a reaction to gluten (a type of protein) found in foods like wheat, oats, barley and rye.
Some of the symptoms of celiac disease include diarrhea, loose greasy stools, fatigue and abdominal distention, although it is possible to have this condition and not show any of these symptoms.
What gluten does in people with this genetic condition is affect the lining of the small intestine making them unable to absorb important nutrients like folic acid and other important vitamins and minerals necessary to nourish a growing foetus.
If your body is unable to absorb nutrients from the food you eat, then conception may become difficult and even if it takes place, sustaining the pregnancy may be an issue, leading to recurrent miscarriages.
Even if the woman is able to conceive and sustain the pregnancy, it is still possible that the baby may be born birth defects because it lacked essential nutrients during formation.
So if you ever suffer from recurrent miscarriages, then it is worth getting yourself to find out if you suffer from celiac disease.
So what are some of the simple steps you can take to reduce the chances of you suffering a miscarriage in the near future?
So How Long Should You Wait Before Trying Again?
That is up to you really. Some doctors suggest you wait for 6 months (or until you have undergone 6 periods) others suggest 3 periods. When I suffered a miscarriage at around 8 weeks, I did not really wait at all.
Firstly I was too sad and I did not want to keep mourning the loss of my baby. I realised there was nothing I could have done differently and there was nothing I could have done to save that pregnancy.
I was also happy to try straight away because I already had a daughter, so i knew I was capable to carrying a pregnancy to full term.
I would suggest you have a thorough examination and if all is okay, then I don’t see why you can’t try again as soon as you feel ready.
What are Some Of The Things You Can Do To Prevent A Miscarriage?
1. Get A thorough Medical Examination: If you are trying to conceive after miscarriage, then it is important that you get a thorough medical examination because it would help you identify any physical disabilities/abnormalities that may be causing the miscarriages
Make sure your partner is examined as well.
2. Start Taking Nutritional/ Fertility Supplements: In my post about Ways to Get Pregnant, I list all the nutrients and the required quantities that you need in order to conceive and sustain your pregnancy. You can read the full list by clicking here.
3. Control Your Blood Sugar Levels: The amount of sugar that is circulating in your bloodstream can have a huge impact on your fertility and indeed your ability to sustain a pregnancy.
Your blood sugar levels start to climb every time you eat and your body then produces insulin in response to move the sugar into your cells to be used for energy.
If you eat whole grain, vegetables and fruits, nuts, seeds, oily fish and legumes, you are on the right track because these are digested and absorbed slowly and your blood sugar and insulin levels will rise and fall gradually within the normal range
If however you eat too many sugary and processed foods e.g. white bread, cakes, pastry etc, your blood sugar and insulin levels can shoot up faster and faster, way above the normal range. This is unsettle your reproductive hormones and hinder ovulation.
If you are therefore trying to conceive after miscarriage, it is important that you eat a lot more healthy foods and avoid processed and fast foods.
Secondary Infertility
This is the inability to conceive or carry a pregnancy in a woman who has had a previous pregnancy.
The problem is that many people, including doctors who don’t specialise in this area believe that once you have conceived you will be able to conceive again,sadly this is not always the case.
Secondary infertility is a serious issue, accounting for as many as 60% of fertility cases.
So what Causes Secondary Infertility include:
1.problems ovulating
2. endometriosis
3. pelvic adhesions (which can be caused by Caesarean section, or other abdominal surgery, the coil or IUD, instrumental deliveries and post-partum haemorrhage)
So many factors contribute to secondary infertility and one of the more dominant one is the emotional factor. More often than not, emotionally at least a trauma of some sort – the first time around – maybe a tarumatic birth, possibly postnatal depression or other experiences such as lack of support from husband or family.
It is also possible that the woman is anxious that she may not be able to cope - they are already struggling with one child.
