Medical Center Tips

When is my pregnancy safe from miscarriage?A miscarriage is technically when you have lost the baby before 20 weeks, when after is premature labor. So when is my pregnancy safe? I want to know when I can stop worrying. After 24 weeks, they can save most premature babies unless there are other underlying health problems. I meant before then.  They say something like a quarter or third of pregnancies end in miscarriage. Depending on what study you believe, that is around one in five to one in four, but that’s usually in the first days after conception.  By the time you have a positive pregnancy test, the odds are low. I’ve heard that called a chemical pregnancy.  But miscarriage is still a risk. Yes, since around four fifths of miscarriages happen before week 12.  However, the odds drop significantly by the time the doctor detects a heart beat. That means the odds drop most by six to eight weeks. And the odds are highest when you aren’t sure you are pregnant and then your period starts late. When can I consider my pregnancy safe from miscarriage?After the first trimester, the odds of miscarriage drop to around three percent. Because the other twenty percent ended before then. So if you’re going to have a miscarriage, you are six to seven times more likely to have it in the first twelve weeks, and almost all of those in the first four. I’m past that point. Let’s say you get through the first twenty weeks.  After that point, the risk is about one in two hundred. Does that include when a baby is born but doesn't survive?The one in two hundred risk includes stillbirths and babies born too prematurely. What causes these cases?Early in the pregnancy, many of them are due to genetic abnormalities, health problems or infection. That’s why a woman over 40 has about twice the odds of miscarriage as a woman under 35. In later stages, infection and injury are more often to blame for a miscarriage. I just wanted to reduce my risk. If you have a thyroid condition, get treatment so it doesn’t up the miscarriage risk.  And get checked for diabetes, to prevent pregnancy complications. I know untreated diabetes raises the risk of a ten pound plus baby, but not miscarriage. Just know that if you know you’re pregnant, the odds of miscarriage are ten to twenty percent, but once you get to twelve weeks, the odds are almost as good you’ll have twins as a miscarriage. I am worried the stress will make me have a miscarriage. Stress doesn’t cause miscarriages as often as it is blamed. But it could be the reason my period is late in the first place. Just think – once you get to the second trimester, the odds of a miscarriage are incredibly low, and odds are, everything is absolutely fine.