Miscarriage has always been a very complicated and delicate topic for me. I have a lot of trouble with it. I have a great fear of it. So, like any reasonable person would do with such an uncomfortable topic, I am going to write a book about it.
I am not sure when my irrational obsession with miscarriage started, but it has been plaguing me for some time. Doing my research I found some facts I never knew about, and in the spirit of keeping other women informed, I want to share them with you, even though I hope you will never need to know any of this.
Almost a quarter of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. I was shocked at this one. I was sure the figures would be much, much lower.
Thankfully, almost three fourths of all miscarriages occur before the woman even knows she has conceived. Somehow this is comforting. Maybe simply for the reason that you cannot cry about something you did not even know about it. Unless of course you prescribe to the reasoning of it being better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. In which case, I am sorry.
One common cause of miscarriage is progesterone deficiency, and the scariest part is that no one can do anything to help with this once it is identified. Progesterone supplements do little to prevent miscarriage.
A large part of miscarriages occur due to the genetic make-up of the sperm. This means there is nothing the mother could have done to prevent the miscarriage.
A miscarriage can feel like labor. The woman experiences powerful contractions, five to twenty minutes apart, and very pronounced lower back pain.
This is all very intimidating. As if miscarriage wasn’t frightening enough without knowing all the details.