How long after a miscarriage can you get pregnant again?
Most women will have a successful pregnancy after miscarriage. In fact, having one or two miscarriages doesn’t mean you’re at higher risk for miscarriage in the future.
Spontaneous abortion or miscarriage is defined as the loss of pregnancy less than 20 weeks gestation. According to NCBI, it is estimated that as many as 26% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage and most happen within the first eight weeks. In other words, miscarriages are more common than most women think.
A late period may actually be a miscarriage, and it can even happen before pregnancy is detected. The risk of miscarriage decreased after 12 weeks of pregnancy, this is why it is very common to announce a pregnancy after this period of time.
Pregnancy After Miscarriage
Now that you are ready to get pregnant again after experiencing a miscarriage, you must be wondering, how long after a miscarriage can you get pregnant again? This is the first question that women who had a miscarriage want to ask their doctor.
The answer is that you can be fertile immediately after a miscarriage. Meaning that a woman can become pregnant even before her menstrual returns.
It can take anywhere from a few hours to several weeks for the blood and tissue from a miscarriage to completely expel from the uterus. Doctors usually recommend waiting at least one cycle before actively trying to become pregnant again.
Planning a Pregnancy After Miscarriage – When to See a Doctor?
In case of an early miscarriage, even though it can be an emotionally draining experience, it’s not always a medical emergency. You should always go to the emergency room if you having very heavy bleeding or if you’re having severe pain in the abdominal area, dizziness, or fainting.
But, assuming you have no emergency symptoms, if you think you are having a miscarriage and more than a week has passed since your missed menstrual period, the best thing to do is to see your doctor before trying to get pregnant again.
Your doctor may recommend an early ultrasound, in order to give you an idea of what is going on and whether the miscarriage is complete or incomplete. Furthermore, your doctor may offer you treatment for the miscarriage, if needed. Or tell you exactly when you can start trying to conceive again if that is your plan.
Pregnancy After Miscarriage – My Story
I also had a miscarriage after my first child as well. I’m sharing my story because I think it is important to let other women know they are not alone; experiencing a miscarriage is actually very common. On average, about 1 in 5 pregnancies will end in a miscarriage — usually in the first trimester. In most cases, a miscarriage cannot be prevented because it is the result of a chromosomal abnormality or problem with the development of the fetus.
Unfortunately, my miscarriage occurred when I had completed 8 weeks and 2 days of pregnancy. My first child was about 17 months, and it was the first time I left my son with his father for a few days for a pleasure trip to Europe with my best friend.
On the third day on this trip, I started bleeding.
It was massive bleeding, so I knew right away it was a miscarriage.
It wasn’t implantation bleeding like I had in my first pregnancy, which was more of a light spotting.
I felt dizzy and almost passed out. It was extremely stressful, especially because we were in a foreign country we didn’t really know.
Luckily, we had our plane tickets booked the next day. So after taking a rest, I was ready to go back home!
After I got home, I felt much better. The first thing I did was visiting my doctor. After the ultrasound, he told me that I had a miscarriage that was not complete yet, but he said that I can try to get pregnant again after waiting one menstrual cycle.
Looking back, I even think I had an anxiety attack or panic attack that made me feel so stressed and afraid that something bad will happen to me.
It was a few days of massive bleeding and it was over.
We started trying to get pregnant again a month later, just like my doctor instructed. And I got pregnant again in the same month! Here is me pregnant again.
I’ll never forget this trip!
At the time, there weren’t many people talking about the ups and downs of miscarriage, and after I experienced a miscarriage myself I found that I wasn’t alone and there are more women like me. Hearing other women’s stories helped me recover emotionally and overcome my fears. I’m so glad that there is more of an openness now surrounding miscarriage and the feelings associated with it, but there is still much more to achieve. I hope reading my story can help other women going through a miscarriage or pregnancy loss today. Feel free to ask me any questions at any time!
Miscarriage and Infertility
Many women wonder if their miscarriage affects pregnancy. No, a miscarriage or two doesn’t make you infertile. But having miscarriages repeatedly might be a sign that you are facing an existing condition that is severely affecting your fertility. Issues that can result in continuous miscarriage include a uterine or genetic abnormality, fibroids, age, naturally immune condition, or an infection, such as lupus.
According to NSH, the risk of having a miscarriage increases from the period of 35 to 39 years, and also from 40 years of age. If you have already experienced a miscarriage once or twice, it is believed that the probability of having another one is quite low.
Most women still get pregnant even after three to four miscarriages. Some healthcare personnel believes that treating and testing consecutive miscarriages is necessary not until the third pregnancy loss. But the thought of investigating further will be based on your age and chances of still getting pregnant. If you are aware that you have a fertility problem and your miscarriages are linked to it, even a single miscarriage is enough reason for testing and treatment. It is worth being examined because, based on the cause of the issue, a solution could be found. For instance, women having Hughes syndrome can lower the risk of them having a miscarriage with a treatment of heparin and aspirin (low dose).
Chances of Pregnancy After Miscarriage
The cause of consecutive miscarriages isn’t known. Find more information about what might cause a miscarriage here. But even if the cause can’t be found, there’s a great chance of being pregnant and delivery successfully in the future. With support, women with a record of continuous miscarriage are at 75% chance of delivering successfully in the future. According to PubMed, a study of 600+ women discovered that reduced stress, a healthy diet, and proper attention to emotional well-being can help in reducing the risk of yet another miscarriage.
Miscarriage is so common and usually affects about 20 percent of pregnancies that have been confirmed by a pregnancy test. This number is even more significant (around 26%) if you take into consideration the pregnancies which are lost even before they’re clinically recognized. So, it’s not just you; other women are passing through the same problem as you. While pregnancy loss is annoying, a single miscarriage doesn’t impact the ability to become pregnant again. Usually taking place in the first 2 months of pregnancy, a miscarriage is caused as a result of genetic errors in the sperm or eggs. The causes are often unknown, and future trials in getting pregnant usually end up being successful in most cases. While some women might not be emotionally or physically ready to try all over again following a miscarriage, there’s no harm in trial whenever a woman finally feels ready.
Moving On After A Miscarriage
Many women wonder if their miscarriage was their fault. Women who suffer a pregnancy loss become filled with guilt thinking they might have done something wrong and they wonder what they may be done to cause a miscarriage. Since this process is a natural phenomenon, usually of unknown causes, women shouldn’t feel guilty though the effects could be traumatic.
Tips for Conceiving After Miscarriage
For most women, there is no reason to delay trying to get pregnant again after a miscarriage. You just need to make sure that the miscarriage is fully completed and there is no tissue from the pregnancy that still remains in the uterus (your doctor will check it). According to different studies, the sooner a woman conceives again, the better her chances of having a healthy pregnancy. A study by the University of Aberdeen of 30,000 women found that conceiving within six months offered the best chance for a healthy pregnancy.
So, as soon as the parents are done with grief, there are many anticipatory steps that a woman could take toward improving her chances of yet another pregnancy. Pursuing a healthy lifestyle that doesn’t include smoking, heavy drinking, drug use, excessive caffeine, reduces stress and can increase fertility levels. Eating diets that contain the correct amount of healthy minerals could also help with fertility. Many women can put to birth, but if pregnancy doesn’t take place or in case of other concerns, you should always see a fertility doctor for additional drugs, testing, and other necessary therapies. Contact a reliable women’s health center whenever you need help in determining what’s wrong or when you wish to discover potential fertility problems after a miscarriage.
Related:
HOW TO GET PREGNANT FAST WITH IRREGULAR PERIODS
FACTS ABOUT FERTILITY AND INFERTILITY
7 IMPORTANT CHANGES TO MAKE BEFORE YOU GET PREGNANT
