Higher Numbers of Miscarriages and Infertility, Any Link?

When infertility becomes an issue to contend with, the problems to worry about go beyond just getting pregnant. Carrying the baby to full term and giving birth to a healthy baby becomes another source of worry. Pregnancy loss or miscarriage is not uncommon among fertile and childbearing women, but whether problems with fertility aggravate pregnancy loss is an issue to be critically looked into.

In the general population, pregnancy loss ranges between 10-20%. Amazingly, most of these miscarriages occur ever before the woman involved realizes that she is pregnant. Such miscarriages are merely observed as an unusually heavy menstrual flow in women that suffer it. It is estimated that the loss of clinically recognized pregnancy is only about 8%.

Furthermore, many of the miscarriages in healthy women occur long before a fetal heartbeat is detectable by vaginal ultrasound. Pregnancies that will result in miscarriage mostly do not develop enough to allow the heartbeat to be detected in the fetus. This factor has also helped to further streamline risk and better predict miscarriages. Recent medical

studies have shown that if a fetal heartbeat is detected by vaginal ultrasound in a pregnancy between the 6th to 9th week of menstrual age i.e. 4-7weeks after ovulation, then the chance of subsequently losing the pregnancy is as slim as 2%. This number serves as a major form of re-assurance for pregnant women who have had an ultrasound in which the baby's heartbeat was seen.

Also, this number has been used to determine if the rate of pregnancy loss in women with infertility problems is different from that of the general population. In one of such studies, carried out in the UK with 231 women in an infertility clinic it was discovered that pregnancy loss averaged 7.7% with single pregnancies and 18.0% with multiple pregnancies in women below 35 years of age; while the value for women over 35 years old was 4.9% for single pregnancies and 13.4% for multiple pregnancies.

This study result plainly shows that women with infertility problems are not just going to have problems getting pregnant, they might also find it difficult to carry babies to term and deliver a healthy baby, when pregnancy does occur.

There could be several reasons for this situation, however, it is important to note that there are always several medical factors responsible for infertility, one or two of these factors may also affect the ability to carry a baby successfully.

One such factor is that of age. Most women with infertility problems are older than the average age for childbearing, because they have delayed getting pregnant for one reason or the other. The uterine tubes and the uterus also play crucial roles in conception and successful gestation. When these organs don't function properly, for any reason, they impair fertility and may also affect the ability to carry babies.

Due to these, and many other factors, miscarriage rates appear to be higher in women suffering infertility, especially if over 35 years old and in cases of multiple pregnancies. After all, it is always better to know what to expect out of every pregnancy. The knowledge could bring comfort, when you understand your chances.

About the author:

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Infertility

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