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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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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