Possible reasons for early miscarriage

A pregnancy that ends before 12 weeks is termed early miscarriage. It can be caused accidentally or as a reaction to an underlying medical condition.Early miscarriage is may also be called chemical pregnancy though in the latter's case, only the miscarriage that occurs before the fifth or sixth week of gestation is called so. According to the British Medical Journal, miscarriage in the first trimester affects about 15% of total pregnancies and this may be either called foetal loss or an incomplete abortion.

Health problems in the mother:

Certain health conditions in the mother may increase the risk of her losing the pregnancy. Some of the conditions are immune system disorders such as congenital heart diseases, lupus, uncontrolled diabetes, severe kidney disease, intrauterine infection and thyroid disease.

Hormonal imbalance:

If a woman, for instance, has a luteal phase defect in which her body fails to secret enough progesterone to keep the pregnancy, she may miscarry.

Anatomical problems:

According to The Mother of All Pregnancy Books, congenital abnormalities of the cervix and the uterus, fibroids, uterine adhesions, complications resulting from an elective abortion such as a cervical trauma and infection and a cervix that opens prematurely are a few of the problems that may lead to early miscarriage. The book states that some of these problems can be treated.

Bacterial and viral infections - Some of the infections that a woman suffers from during pregnancy such as chicken pox are likely to not come back or hinder the pregnancy, but others like Group B strep are likely to be a problem in the later stages of pregnancy or at the time of labour.

Alcohol and recreational drug use:

 Women who drink large quantities of alcohol or recreational drugs during pregnancy are at a higher than average risk of going through a miscarriage. The British medical Journal states that smoking is the main cause of cervical cancer, impotence, miscarriage and infertility in the United Kingdom.

Blighted ovum - It is a fertilized egg that implants but does not develop. An ultrasound shows a pregnancy sack with no embryo. This type of miscarriage is an unavoidable phenomenon.

Ectopic pregnancy:

A pregnancy that does not take place in the uterus is called ectopic pregnancy. The fertilized egg settles and grows at some other location, usually the fallopian tube rather than the normal inner lining of the uterus. The fertilized egg starts growing and causes internal bleeding. It finally leads to early miscarriage.Stress and pressure suffered by the woman for various reasons can also cause early termination of pregnancy.

Exposure to harmful substances:

if a woman is exposed to high dose of radiation, chemotherapeutic drugs, certain types of chemicals, moderate to heavy dosage of caffeine and cigarette smoke is like to be highly susceptible to surviving a miscarriage.

Medical Evacuation:

Medical evacuation is used to allow uterine evacuation when the woman is going through mild vaginal bleeding. The main drug that is used to facilitate medical evacuation is misoprostol.A patient who has an intact gestational sac and is going through medical evacuation may be given anti-progesterone therapy along with mifepristone to facilitate uterine evacuation.