eli5 What is a miscarriage? Doctor malpractice involved? Just bad luck? Does the baby always die? Does the mom always die? Bad health choices?
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Miscarriage is where a pregnancy ends early resulting in loss of the baby.
It can be for a very long list of reasons ranging from the mother having a condition which makes her more susceptible to miscarrying all the way through to outside influences like the mentioned malpractice or bad luck through traumas like accidents.
A miscarriage can be fatal to the mother if it is not observed due to possible complications like blood loss etc… But this is not always the case.
My friend has miscarried twice and both times were in the very early stages of pregnancy so it was the equivalent of a heavy period.
The true trauma was dealing with the psychological impact.
> What is a miscarriage?
A spontaneous loss of pregnancy. Basically the fetus dies in the womb.
> Doctor malpractice involved?
Doctors don’t really do anything during the pregnancy other than keeping track of it. Sure, a doctor could cause it, for example by performing certain check ups (such as amniocentesis) incorrectly, but it’s pretty rare.
> Just bad luck?
In most cases, yes. Sometimes it’s a genetic problem with the fetus itself (so it wouldn’t have survived anyway), sometimes it’s a problem with the pregnancy. For example major physical trauma (such as a car accident) can result in a miscarriage.
> Does the baby always die?
Yes, that’s what miscarriage means.
> Does the mom always die?
Not at all. If it’s early enough in the pregnancy, the body just absorbs the remains of the fetus. If it’s later then the woman has to have surgery to have the dead fetus removed, otherwise there is a risk to the mother’s life. There have been cases where the dead fetus became calcified in the womb and remained there for decades.
> Bad health choices?
Yes, this can also result in miscarriages. That’s why, for example, pregnant woman are not allowed to go on theme park rides, and should avoid certain foods.
Miscarriage always means that the baby dies, yes. The fetus dying or ceasing to develop inside the womb is what triggers the miscarriage, also known as spontaneous abortion. The causes are usually medical – bad genes (bad luck), incompatible genes, something wrong with the uterus, poisoning or disease etc. The mother normally lives provided that there is adequate medical care. In fact, there is evidence that a lot of pregnancies spontaneously terminate before the woman even becomes aware that she is pregnant without her realizing it. From her point of view she gets an unusually heavy (and late) period.
Miscarriage is a pregnancy before 20-24 weeks in which the baby dies in utero and usually passes out of the mother naturally. Doctor malpractice is not involved. The mom almost never dies. Poor health choices are usually not involved. The cause of miscarriage is almost never known. It is estimated that perhaps as much as 50% of pregnancies end in miscarriage because a mother may miscarry a fertilized egg before she even knows she is pregnant. Regardless, miscarriage is very, very common. About 30% of mothers have had one.
Sometimes medical intervention is necessary to empty the mother’s uterus if the tissue is not fully expelled naturally. Sometimes this can cause major bleeding or sepsis. That is much less common.
Of course, there are situations in which medical malpractice or poor health choices might cause a pregnancy to end, but those are far more rare.
a misscarriage is in rather blunt terms a pregnancy that for w/e reason did not come to term(was somehow trminated before the child reached a state where survival outside of the womb was possible).the Child invariably dies(otherwise this would be called a premature birth.)
it can have a number of reasons, but only a few of them are pointed at the people involved: it could as simple as bad luck(whch is mangified by conditions like the age of the mother or massive truamal ike an accident), or genetics(ie: the child inherited a condition from the parents that is invariably lethal).
generally the mother, while not having a fun time for sure, is not normally at risk unless this happened fairly late into the pregnancy(but not late enough to save the child)tho not free from danger due to complications due ot bloodloss , and in places where medical/prenatal care is available mothers get screened them oment its known they are pregnant for any conditions that woudl endanger them during it(and if such is determined might present options that in extreme cases can include termination of said pregnacy).
Miscarriage is when a pregnancy ends naturally (i.e. the unborn baby dies) before 20 weeks gestation. After that it’s considered stillborn.
It is usually just bad luck and not from something anyone has done (such as bad health choices). The most common cause of miscarriage is genetic mutations that are not compatible with life. About 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, but it is a bit of a taboo topic and so not many people talk about it. But it is much more common than you would think. Most miscarriages happen in the first trimester, and for this reason women are cautioned not to announce their pregnancy early on to avoid having to share their disappointment and grief with everyone if a miscarriage does occur.
An early miscarriage is a bit like a heavy period, while a later one could involve more obvious / well formed products of conception. The mum does not die most of the time but there can be complications such as blood loss and infection that need to be treated. Often, women will need a small surgery to remove any remaining products of conception.
There are so many reasons a miscarriage can occur. Sometimes is due to a lack of proper development of the baby, a disease, virus or other health factor the baby has. Even an issue with RH factors in the blood that compete and kill the baby, depending on the paretns’ blood types.
Other common issues could be the health of mother. Malnutrition, consuming toxins such as too much alcohol, cigarettes, or even bad deli meats. If mom doesn’t watch her diet, it can result in gestational diabetes.
There are simple issues of the umbilical cord becoming wrapped around baby’s neck and suffocating it. Complications during birth.
Miscarriage is always death.
Depending on how far along in the growth baby is, mom’s body may pass the tissue out following a miscarriage, or if baby is further along a D & C (technically an abortion) may be required which is a medical procedure that surgically enters mom and removes all dead tissue and the baby to prevent potentially fatal infection to the mother.
Bad choices can certainly contribute, but it’s not always anything mom could have done differently. My wife and I lost a baby in the first term, not clear why. My coworker lost her baby a month prior to the due date. Both moms were excellent and did everything by the books but lost the babies.
I also know one mom here in Florida that used hard drugs, has herpes, smoked cigarettes and consumed a lot of alcohol and her baby was born [relatively] healthy (developmental issues are yet to be observed).
Lots of early pregnancies end, because they’re essentially misfires. The fetus (or even zygote) isn’t forming properly, so the body decides to give up and start over again.
Growing a baby takes a tremendous amount from the mother’s body and makes her vulnerable for an extended period of time. The human body can only afford to spend that sort of effort on a fetus that is likely to survive, so we’ve evolved a mechanism to end nonviable pregnancies before they can consume too much of the mother’s resources.
To be fair, that’s not what I’d say to a 5yo 😅
In short, pregnancy is a wobbly-as-hell process that – especially in the first 12 weeks – has a shit ton that can go wrong. Not necessarily due to any specific action – it’s just a highly imperfect process that often results in something going awry. When such a thing happens, the fetus often dies and thus we have a miscarriage. Generally, the miscarriage itself is of no physical danger to the mother.
Depending on how far along the pregnancy was, the fetus may need surgically removing from the mother. If the fetus had survived up to the 20 (I think) weeks point, it’s classified as a stillbirth rather than a miscarriage.
Miscarriages are far, far more common than people think, and many women experience them without realising (in that the pregnancy failed so early that it went unnoticed). It’s absolutely not something that can be assumed to have somebody at fault.
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