‘I stopped believing in my body’: Myleene Klass rocks son Apollo for the first time shortly after birth in nursery video as she talks about her four miscarriages

It is very unlikely that you will ever know the true cause of a single miscarriage, but most of them are due to the following problems:

• abnormal fetus

The most common cause of miscarriage in the first few months is a single abnormal development of the fetus, often due to chromosomal abnormalities. “It’s not like the baby is fine one minute and suddenly dies the next,” says Professor James Walker, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Leeds.

“These pregnancies fail from the start and were never destined to succeed.” Most miscarriages like this occur after eight weeks, although bleeding may not start until three or four weeks, which is something to consider for subsequent pregnancies. “If a scan shows a healthy heartbeat at eight weeks, you have a 95 per cent chance of a successful pregnancy,” says Professor Walker.

• hormonal factors

A hormonal imbalance can cause an intermittent miscarriage and never be a problem again. However, a small number of women with long cycles and irregular periods may experience recurrent miscarriages because the uterine lining is too thin, making implantation difficult.

Unfortunately, hormone treatment is not very successful.

“There used to be a trend towards treatment with progesterone, but tests show that it really doesn’t work,” warns Professor Walker. “There is evidence that injections of HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone released during early pregnancy) can help, but it is not the solution for everyone.” Treatment should be started as soon as pregnancy is confirmed, around four or five weeks.

• AGE

For women over 40, one in four women who become pregnant will have a miscarriage. [One in four women of all ages miscarry, but these figures include women who don’t know that they are pregnant. Of women who do know that they’re pregnant, the figure is one in six. Once you’re over 40, and know that you’re pregnant, the figure rises to one in four]

• AUTOIMMUNE BLOOD DISEASE

About 20 percent of recurrent miscarriages are from lupus, or a similar autoimmune disease that causes blood clots to form in the developing placenta.

A simple blood test, which may need to be repeated several times, can determine whether or not this is the problem. “A negative test does not mean that a woman is doing well,” warns Mr. Roy Farquharson, board-certified gynecologist who guides early pregnancy. Ward at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.

Pregnancy can often be a trigger for these conditions, so testing should be done as soon as possible,” he adds. But it can be easily treated with low-dose aspirin or heparin injections, which help thin the blood and prevent clots. – A recent study also showed that women perform equally well on both. “We have a live birth rate of 70 percent in women treated for these conditions,” says Dr. Farquharson, “which is excellent.”

• OTHER CAUSES

Although uterine abnormalities such as uterine fibroids can cause miscarriage, many women have no problem continuing a pregnancy. An incompetent cervix can also cause miscarriage at around 20 weeks.

Although it can be treated with a special stitch in the cervix, studies show that it is not very effective, although it can delay labor by several weeks. a small number of couples.

A procedure known as pre-implantation genetic testing can help. After in vitro fertilization (IVF), a single cell is removed from the developing embryo and examined for the genetic defect. Only healthy embryos are then placed back into the uterus.

It’s an expensive and stressful procedure – and pregnancy rates are usually quite low – but for some it’s preferable to repeated miscarriages or a genetically abnormal baby.