Article for anyone who hasn't had symptoms of, but are worried about, miscarriage
If you've had an ultrasound that shows the baby is healthy, and you haven't had any signs of possible miscarriage, you almost don't have to worry anymore. Yay!
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Symptomless miscarriage rate lower than thought
Fri, Mar 14, 2008 (Reuters Health) - For pregnant women without symptoms, and who have ultrasound evidence that their fetus is viability at the first prenatal visit, the risk of subsequent miscarriage is less than 2 percent — well below previously reported rates — according to a large study conducted in Australia.
The overall risk of miscarriage once a woman knows she is pregnant is 12 to 15 percent, the researchers note in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology. Even after ultrasound has confirmed that the fetus is healthy, studies have shown that early miscarriage rates can be as high as 12 percent.
However, no studies have exclusively investigated the miscarriage risk among women without symptoms, such as vaginal bleeding or lower abdominal pain, Dr. Stephen Tong, from Monash University in Victoria, and colleagues point out.
Tong's group conducted a study with 696 asymptomatic women carrying one fetus who attended their first prenatal visit between 6 and 11 weeks of pregnancy. Ultrasound exams documented fetal cardiac activity.
Eleven patients (1.6 percent) had a miscarriage before 20 weeks. The risk was relatively high at 9.4 percent among the women who were 6 weeks pregnant, falling to 1.5 percent among those who were 8-weeks pregnant, and less than 0.7 percent from 9 weeks onward.
The study was conducted in a regular prenatal clinic, "not a specialized early pregnancy clinic or an ultrasound department," Tong's group points out, and none of the attending physicians who performed the initial ultrasonography had any formal subspecialty qualifications.
"Consequently, we believe that our data could be extrapolated generally to health care providers provided that they are able to offer office ultrasonography to confirm viability at that visit," the team surmises.
Ford's group concludes that, for asymptomatic women who have their first prenatal visit between 8 and 11 weeks of pregnancy and do not have pregnancy risk factors, "our data may be useful as a counseling tool to reassure such women at the end of their first prenatal visit that their risk of loss is already very low."
"For pregnant women without symptoms, and who have ultrasound evidence that their fetus is viability at the first prenatal visit, the risk of subsequent miscarriage is less than 2 percent ? well below previously reported rates ? according to a large study conducted in Australia."
