Does 2 m/cs mean there’s a problem?

I can't remember the exact statistics but I do know that women who have had 2 m/c only have a very slightly raised chance of having another one compared to someone who's never had a m/c, the odds start stacking up after you've had 3.

I've had two m/c but not consecutive, I had one, then had Maya 6 years later, then another one, then the gremlins. I was lucky that they did do genetic testing after my second one as I was in Oz and it is routine at RNS hospital after a d and c, but it didn't tell us anything other than that it was most likely a blighted ovum.

If you are really concerned, you could always talk to your GP and maybe get a referral to a specialist just to have a chat altho you'd prob need to go private as I don't think the public system will see you till you've had 3 consecutive m/c.

This is probably irrational but I'm now having a big freak out. What if I just keep having miscarriages and never have any children. I know its not very common but it does happen to people and there is no way of knowing right now whether or not it will happen to me.

Here you go, from www.miscarriagesupport.org.nz:

"Couples with no history of miscarriage or if their last pregnancy was a live birth, have an 80% - 85% chance of a successful pregnancy.
This only drops by 1% if the last pregnancy was terminated
Couples who have had one miscarriage still have an 80% chance.
Those who have had two miscarriages drop to 72%
Three previous miscarriages drops to 43%

Even those who have more miscarriages will usually have a baby eventually, if they feel they can continue to try, although hormonal, structural and infectious causes continue till treated"

They also have a section on recurrent miscarriage, I've found them to be a very informative site.

Thanks Maya and Shadowdance, that's really reassuring.

don't really know much more than whats already been said, but just wanna say hang in there chickies - sending big bundles of baby dust your way!

That's terrible, my GP said she would refer me after 2 miscarriages because of my age and I am 35. I have self-referred to an ob/gyn privately because I have decided I don't want to wait to go through the public system.

Gofly, if you are in Wellington PM me and I'll send you the name of the ob/gyn I am going to see.

Thanks Vanillabean, I am very heartened by your message.
Although I am not in Wellington but in "Dorkland", I am going to tell my Dr. this can be the case for some I know, and see again if he will refer me. Unfortunately I don't have the money to go privately.

I have been doing a ton of reading about recurrent miscarriage. It seems that in general 60% of m/cs are caused by chromosomal abnormalities and if you have one m/c this is most likely to be the cause. However, the more m/cs you have n a row ithe less likely this is the cause.

Of people with recurrent m/c about 60% will be diagnosed with an underlying cause. This could be:

uterine abnormalities
Antiphospholid syndrome (an autoimmune problem)
balanced translocation (an inherited chromosomal problem)
hormonal imbalence
thyroid problems.

However, many doctors are starting to believe that the unexplained recurrent m/cs are due to immunological problems that either don't yet have tests to diagnose them or for which tests are not yet backed up by strong evidence so many doctors don't try them.

Treatment for immunological problems include low dose aspirin, heparin and IVIG (a blood product that is administered intravenously). IVIG in particular is a controversial treatment and I wouldn't be surprised if its not available in NZ.

Also, immunological problems can be present in some pregnancies and not in others with the same person.

So the answer to my original question is, if you have had one miscarriage there is only a 5% chance you will have another one in a row. For some people it will be due to a fluke of bad luck but for many there will be an underlying cause and it is worthwhile trying to investigate this.

Sorry for the very long post!


Edited by Vanillabean

DonnaK wrote: but most importantly keep on living and enjoying your life, your partner/husband and stay positive. Your sanity is important too!

omg I wish I had managed this instead of letting it consume me! I am on my 10th pregnancy too, had 6 miscarriages and made a heartbreaking choice to terminate at 21 1/2 weeks due to major abnormalities (the pregnancy before this one), and have 2 healthy children. Every loss hit me hard, but the last one was the one that really cost me - friendships and for a while my marriage. My marriage ended up being saveable, but friendships weren't. I didn't know anyone else who had even been through a miscarriage or anything and they didn't understand at all. I wish there was something like this site available to me then, a bit of understanding goes a long way to saving sanity!