Can I prevent miscarriage?

An informative look at the causes of early pregnancy loss

This substack is about all things fertility and faith — sometimes posts will be perfectly balanced, other times heavy on the faith, and others heavy on the education. Today, we’re a little heavy on the education. So if you’re here looking for a faithful engagement, don’t leave! Check out any number of previous posts that check that box — but, as an educator, I just can’t not throw in a little education here and there. Today’s focus? Pregnancy Loss.

Photo by Yaoqi on Unsplash

What is a miscarriage? How often does it occur?

The term miscarriage is often used to describe the loss of a pregnancy before the 20th week. “Miscarriage” is used whether the loss is spontaneous (how we typically think of a miscarriage) or voluntary (commonly known as an abortion). For our focus today, we’ll be looking at the common causes of spontaneous miscarriage — but I’ll use the term pregnancy loss.¹

A loss before the 20th week of pregnancy happens as frequently as 1 in 4 pregnancies.

That number is terrifying to anyone excited about a positive pregnancy test, but it’s a very real reality. We are not promised tomorrow, and neither are our children.

The loss of a child — even in utero — stirs up a lot of questions about purpose, goodness, suffering, longing, and eternal hope.

As devastating as it is emotionally and spiritually, it’s also a very physical experience for the women experiencing the losses. Not all losses “just feel like a heavy period.” (If you can’t tell, I actually hate that phrase. In my client experience, this is almost never the case — so why not inform and prepare them, rather than send them off with this unhelpful and inaccurate expectation?)

Losses also have relational impact — between husband and wife, other children in the family, and family members and friends.

Pregnancy loss affects every part of your personhood, so it’s worth addressing holistically and compassionately.

To read a bit about how you and I (and our churches) can do this, I suggest this previous substack post:

What are common causes of miscarriage?

Because these early losses aren’t talked about much, it’s not uncommon for devastated parents to be left in the dark about why they lost their child and whether or not it could happen in future pregnancies.

And, just to be clear, “better luck next time” is not an acceptable response from medical professionals.

Unfortunately, many will be told this since the standard of care is only to investigate once a couple has experienced 3 consecutive losses. Three consecutive losses. Unbelievable. Unacceptable.

This is why understanding the common causes of early pregnancy loss may be helpful as you do your own research for yourself or others. Let’s break them down together:

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