Sadly, every pregnancy carries a risk of miscarriage. Even a healthy woman who’s already had full-term pregnancies should look out for miscarriage symptoms, because around 20 – 25% of all pregnancies fail in the first 13 weeks. So it’s wise to be aware of miscarriage signs listed below and to get medical help should they appear.
Knowing miscarriage indicators and being mentally prepared for miscarriage, however, does not soften the heartbreak of losing a little life. If it happens to you, and there is a one in four chance that it will, you can expect to feel overwhelmed by sadness. Unfortunately, there is no magic way to stop an early miscarriage. Usually, by the time miscarriage symptoms are noticeable, the pregnancy is no longer viable.
Sadly, there is no easy path through the grief of miscarriage, although many couples find talking about it helps a lot. Nowadays, more people are upfront about losing a pregnancy, as miscarriage is no longer the big secret it was even 10 years ago.
They key thing to remember is that, unless you’ve been hitting the drugs and alcohol, the risk of miscarriage is out of your control. So don’t beat yourself up if miscarriage symptoms appear – just get yourself to your doctor.
You’re having a miscarriage if you’ve had a positive pregnancy test and then experience these miscarriage signs:
It is also important to recognise the symptoms of a septic miscarriage. This occurs when a woman has an infection in her uterus and miscarries. It is dangerous for the woman’s health and requires immediate medical care. Symptoms include fluid coming from your vagina that smells bad, vaginal bleeding, fever and chills, and cramping and pain in the abdomen.
Sometimes there are no miscarriage symptoms at all and the shock of miscarriage may only be discovered during a routine scan when no heartbeat is detected.
Some women also report miscarriage indicators that aren’t necessarily physical, but emotional – such as feeling down (although this could be due to falling hormone levels), or odd feelings of unease, illness, or even a strange taste in the mouth prior to vaginal bleeding actually starting.
Sometimes there are signs that a miscarriage is close, however, none of these signs means a miscarriage is certain and gives you a chance to prevent a miscarriage if possible.
There are all kinds of strange sensations, pains and niggles during pregnancy that cause mums-to-be to worry like mad, or even panic!
Before you call for help, remember that the vast majority of pregnancies result in a squawking baby. Here are the most common things you’ll fret over and could possibly think are miscarriage indicators:
For more information and support, see your General Practitioner, midwife or health care professional. You can also visit http://cope.org.au or http://www.sands.org.au, or call the SANDS helpline on 1300 072 637.