10 Most Common Causes of Miscarriage – All Details Inside!

Every expecting mother wishes for a healthy pregnancy. Under some unfortunate circumstances, miscarriages do happen. We are here to discuss the 10 most common causes of miscarriage. Obviously, it is a devastating experience for a pregnant woman. The causes of recurrent miscarriage are clueless as to why it happened. Check out possible 10 most common causes of miscarriage.

What is Miscarriage?

In this spontaneous abortion takes place. And you may call it as the natural death of an embryo. This occurs in the first few months of pregnancy. Sadly this is the most common type of pregnancy loss. Here are a few signs of miscarriage discussed below, go through them.

Signs of Miscarriage

• Mild to severe back pain
• Mild cramps
• Light to heavy bleeding
• Abdominal pain
• Weight loss
• White-pink mucus
• Brown or bright red bleeding
• The sudden decrease in pregnancy symptoms

10 Most Common Causes of Miscarriage – Types

Complete Miscarriage
The pregnancy tissue has left your uterus. The contraction of the empty uterus causes cramps or strong period pain. In this case, vaginal bleeding is common. It can last for several days. Thus, only an ultrasound can detect it.

Incomplete Miscarriage
In this miscarriage, some pregnancy tissue still stays in the womb. Women can experience heavy bleeding that continues for hours. You can experience flu-like symptoms with increased tummy pain.

Missed Miscarriage  
An expectant mother experiences miscarriage without being aware of the foetal loss. The baby dies but still stays in the uterus. And you’ll be accompanied by the symptoms like nausea and tiredness. A scan test can detect this miscarriage.

Threatened Miscarriage
Pregnant ladies experience lower abdominal pain and light vaginal bleeding. These symptoms can last for a few days or weeks. But the pain and bleeding can settle afterwards. Finally, you’ll have a healthy pregnancy or unfortunately a miscarriage.

Recurrent Miscarriage
Recurrent miscarriage or repeated miscarriage is experienced by a small number of women. Here you have 3 or more consecutive first-trimester miscarriage.

10 Most Common Causes of Miscarriage

1. Abnormalities in Chromosome

• 70% of the first trimester and 20% of second-trimester miscarriages occur. Some chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus’s genes are responsible for it.
• During fertilization, the sperm meets the egg. Each of them brings 23 chromosomes together to create perfectly matched pairs. It’s a complex process a minor glitch can lead to chromosomal abnormalities.
• This is one of the 10 most common causes of miscarriage. It is common among women older than 35.

2. Hormonal Abnormalities

• Sometimes a female body is unable to produce enough progesterone hormones. This is an important hormone for pregnancy. It helps the uterine lining to support the fetus. This affects the implantation of the fertilized egg.
• The zygote is the first stage in the development of a new organism. Then comes the next step i.e. embryo.
• Proper implantation in the uterus is vital for the zygote’s development. The hormonal abnormalities can result in multiple miscarriages.

3. Thyroid Disorder During Pregnancy

• Hypothyroidism/ hyperthyroidism cause fertility problems. This can result in repeated and recurrent miscarriages.
• An overactive thyroid gland leads to less or irregular periods.
• Producing too many hormones causes difficulties for estrogen to do its job. This can make the uterus unfavourable for implantation. Due to this, you can experience abnormal uterine bleeding.
• Underactive thyroid gland cause problems in pregnancy. In such cases, the human body tries to compensate by producing certain hormones. This eventually, ends up suppressing the ovulation i.e. no pregnancy.

4. Diabetes

• Diabetes is one of the major causes of miscarriage during the first trimester. It increases the risk of foetal malformations. Thus, leading to foetal loss or miscarriage in the early days of pregnancy.
• Gestational diabetes affects during pregnancy. In pregnancy, our body goes through a number of hormonal changes. The pregnant ladies have difficulties in using glucose effectively. That doesn’t mean everyone will develop gestational diabetes.
• Studies indicate that 2-10% of women will develop this type of diabetes.
• High blood pressure or over 35 years of age can cause this.
• It is important to treat diabetes early and on time for a healthy pregnancy.

5. Drugs, Alcohol, Tobacco Intake During Pregnancy

• Foetus is highly susceptible to genetic damage.
• The problem with the development of placenta can cause miscarriage. The placenta is an organ that helps the baby to grow and develop. It’s attached to the lining of the womb. And is connected to your baby by the umbilical cord. Cigarette smoking is dangerous. It hampers placenta to transport oxygen and other nutrients to the baby. Eventually, this results in malnutrition of the foetus or foetal loss.
• Alcohol intake in pregnancy affects the baby’s cognitive and physical development. Avoid alcohol completely in the early stages of pregnancy. At this time the baby’s critical organs are developing. Hence, the effects of alcohol can be a miscarriage, physical defects, low birth weight etc.

6. Immune Disorders and Chronic Illness

• Certain autoimmune disorders can lead to miscarriages.
• According to certain studies, especially recurrent or repeating miscarriages occur.
• Autoimmune diseases, like Lupus, can increase the rate of miscarriages.
• Women who are pregnant often carry certain anti-bodies. And this can increase the chance of miscarriage. Basically, this happens due to placental insufficiency or preeclampsia.
• Heart disease, kidney diseases, and liver disease can increase miscarriages.
• Before conceiving, a thorough check-up is required by the doctor.

7. The Age Factor role in miscarriage

• The problem of miscarriage increases with age. Your age determines whether or not there are chances of miscarriage.
• The risk of miscarriage is 8.9% for women aged 20-24 years. It increases to 74.7% in women aged 45. Reason for this is the low quality/quantity of eggs by aged women.
• A man gets older, chances of chromosomal abnormalities in his sperm increase. This can cause genetic disorders in the baby. Chromosomal disorders or genetic abnormalities are a major cause behind miscarriages.
• Miscarriage is high among couples of a – woman aged 35 years or older and 40 years or older man.

8. Blood Clotting Disorder

• This is a rare genetic disorder that causes the blood to clot. In medical term, it is known as thrombophilia.
• In the case of thrombophilia, patients are at a higher risk of suffering from miscarriages.
• Women with thrombophilia have an increased risk of pregnancy loss. Naturally, it is one of the major factors behind recurrent miscarriages.
• Thrombophilia can result in poor growth of the fetus and preeclampsia.

9. Weak Cervix

Most common causes of miscarriage at 15 weeks or so are unknown. 14 to 23 weeks of pregnancy loss can be due to weak cervix. The cervix is the bottom portion of the uterus. It opens when women have a baby. In the case of the weak cervix, the opening can be too early. In this way, a woman can suffer from miscarriage. Unfortunately, there are no symptoms of cervical insufficiency. The cervix opens without the woman noticing any contractions. Cervical insufficiency can be the result of previous cervical damage. Thus, women with Uterine abnormalities can develop cervical insufficiency.

10. Medications

Yes, it is true that medications make you vulnerable to miscarriage. In such cases, treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, like misoprostol and methotrexate can increase miscarriages. So, retinoids are also not considered safe. These medicines are used to treat eczema and acne. An anti-inflammatory drug named ibuprofen increases the risk of pregnancy loss. So, ask your doctor about the medications you are taking.

Here we discussed 10 most common causes of miscarriage. Hope you liked the article and found it helpful. Stay tuned for more.