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 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.
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