
Around 50 – 75% of pregnancies result in miscarriage within the first two weeks of implantation. The following article discusses the statistics of the same.
Miscarriage, which is also referred to as spontaneous abortion, is defined as a loss of pregnancy during the first 20 weeks of gestation. Unlike medical or surgical abortion that involves termination of pregnancy through a medical procedure, spontaneous abortion is body’s own mechanism of discarding an embryo which does not develop normally, due to chromosomal abnormalities. A pregnancy loss that occurs after 20 weeks of gestation is referred as a stillbirth. Statistics show that maximum (about 50 – 75%) number of miscarriages occur during first 2 weeks of gestation. This is often when a woman is not even aware that she is pregnant. The bleeding is taken for a normal period, though it arrives a little late.
Facts and Statistics
- Every year, there are about 4.4 million confirmed pregnancies in the US. Of these, 900,000 to 1 million result in spontaneous abortion.
- Women of childbearing age have 15 – 20% chances of a spontaneous abortion. The chances during second pregnancy get slightly elevated at 25%. The probability of the spontaneous abortion for next pregnancy goes on increasing with each miscarriage.
- About 80% of women who have had a spontaneous loss of a fetus before the 20th week in an earlier pregnancy, can have successful pregnancy the next time.
- The term recurrent miscarriage refers to loss of three or more consecutive pregnancies. Women who have had recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) have a miscarriage rate of 40% for their next pregnancy.
- This rate drops down to 13%, if the woman has had more than one live births.
- About 60 – 70% of women affected by RPL will go on to successfully carry the baby to full 9 months, at some point of time in their lives.
- Older women are at a higher risk than younger women. Women over 40 years of age have 50% chances of miscarrying a baby.
- About 75% of the cases of spontaneous abortion occur during the first trimester only.
- Chances of miscarrying the baby during 12 to 20 weeks are only 3%.
- Chances of stillbirth after 20 weeks drop to mere 1%.
- The chances of loss of pregnancy after a heartbeat is detected, is less than 4%. The incidence of miscarrying a baby minimizes when the fetal heartbeat becomes prominent during 9 to 12 weeks.
Drinking, smoking, substance abuse, etc., have an adverse effect on the developing embryo. Hence, eliminating the ill-effects of these addictions from your body and preparing it for a successful pregnancy is very important.
The aforementioned statistics give you only a generalized idea about this complication of pregnancy. They may not always apply to your individual condition. Above all, good mental and physical health will minimize the risk of miscarrying the baby.
Disclaimer: This HerHaleness article is for informative purposes only, and should not be used as a replacement for expert medical advice.