Woman health

Health Matters: What you didn't know about Miscarriages

Before becoming pregnant, doctors say a woman’s health needs to be closely evaluated. “We really want to start counseling patients with certain medical conditions before they get pregnant,” said Dr. Cherrie Morris, an OB/GYN with Lee Health.

Things like obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure can all impact a woman’s ability to get pregnant and even increase the likelihood of having a miscarriage. “Obesity is another medical issue that we definitely want to address because that has effects on miscarriage rates,” said Dr. Morris.

A woman’s age can also put her at risk of having pregnancy complications or a miscarriage. “When you’re in your 30s, it may be as high as 20 percent and then later 30s you may get to 25 percent and then in your 40s the miscarriage rate can get to 50 percent,” said Dr. Morris.

But if a woman has a miscarriage, doctors say there’s one thing they need to understand. “They did absolutely nothing wrong. A majority of miscarriages is a result of chromosome abnormalities, and there’s nothing you can do about that,” said Dr. Morris.

Doctors say a miscarriage will not affect a woman’s chance of having a normal pregnancy in the future. “It’s not because you exercised too much. It’s not because you had a glass of wine. It’s not because you were stressed out. You got pregnant, so that tells me that your anatomy is probably normal if we don’t know that already,” said Dr. Morris.

If a woman has three consecutive miscarriages, doctors may evaluate the patient to find out why. “You can have certain uterine anomalies for example, that can definitely increase your risk for miscarriage,” said Dr. Morris.

Talking to your physician about your pregnancy plans, learning your family history, improving your lifestyle and taking prenatal vitamins, can help women have a healthy pregnancy.

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