Pregnancy is a beautiful and amazing thing. All the changes a woman’s body goes through both physically and physiologically to grow a human life is simply astounding! But along with all the wonderful things, pregnancy can also bring on some challenges. Women can experience morning sickness, high blood pressure, limited activity, aches and pains and unfortunately miscarriage.
A pregnancy that ends by natural causes within the first 20 weeks is deemed a miscarriage. They are more common than expected with 10-20% of known pregnancies ending with a miscarriage. The actual number is likely higher due to the fact that a lot of miscarriages happen early on, potentially before the woman may know she is pregnant.
Majority of miscarriages happen due to the fact that the baby isn’t developing as it should. In some cases miscarriages are the result of uncontrolled diabetes, infections, hormonal problems, thyroid disease or uterus/cervix issues. There are also some risk factors that can increase the chance of a miscarriage including women over 35, previous miscarriages, chronic conditions, uterine/cervical problems, smoking, alcohol and drugs, weight and invasive prenatal tests.
One of the main signs or symptoms of experiencing a miscarriage is bleeding. It may start as light spotting or it could be heavier and appear as a gush of blood. Heavy bleeding is usually over within 3-5 hours of starting and light bleeding can stop and start for over 1-2 weeks before it ends. The color of blood can be anywhere from pink to red to brown. Make sure to let your doctor know if you fill more than 2 pads an hour for 2 or more hours. Other signs and symptoms include mild to severe back pain, weight loss, white-pink mucus discharge, true contractions, tissue with clot-like material passing from vagina and a sudden decrease in signs of pregnancy. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms make sure to reach out to your healthcare provider.
A miscarriage is a traumatic event mentally and physically. It can be hard to process and to handle. You may feel alone or blame yourself for what happened and isolate yourself. But you are not alone. The staff at Options United is there to help you through this difficult time. Individuals are there to pray with you, offer support and guidance on how to navigate this challenging time in your life. They can also direct you toward a counselor or therapist to help you heal from this experience. Going through a miscarriage is hard, but you don’t have to do it alone.