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Miscarriages are devastating. However, the emotional crippling that can occur for a woman post-miscarriage can potentially affect her ability to get pregnant again. Unless your doctor has told you otherwise, most experts now agree that it’s okay to start trying to get pregnant sooner rather than later after a miscarriage.
Fertility Chances Are Highest Within 3 Months After a Miscarriage
Every person’s situation is different. If your miscarriage required a D & C (dilation and curettage procedure) and/or caused any injury or irritation to your uterus, it’s important to wait until your body has healed completely before trying again. For most women, this is a matter of one or two menstrual cycles.
Outside of those scenarios, studies of nearly 1100 women showed that the highest, post-miscarriage fertility rates occur in couples who try again within the first three months.
In fact, not only are women more likely to get pregnant with the first three to six months after a miscarriage, the studies also show women who get pregnant within the first six months after a miscarriage are more likely to experience reduced risk of miscarriage and/or preterm birth with the subsequent pregnancy.
Have You Experienced Recurrent Miscarriage?
On the other side of pregnancy after a miscarriage is the recurrent miscarriage experience. If you have had three or more successive miscarriages, seek immediate referral from your OB/GYN to a reputable fertility specialist in your area. Most of the time, recurrent miscarriages are due to one or more of three main factors:
- Chromosomal/genetic abnormalities in the fetus
- Anatomical abnormalities in the uterus that prevent the fetus from implanting and/or developing properly
- Immuno-related infertility which causes the woman’s body to treat sperm, a fertilized egg or a fetus as an “invader” which it attacks
Without proper diagnosis and treatment, odds are you will continue to miscarriage with is hard on the body and can be crippling to your emotional and energetic well-being.
If you have experienced multiple miscarriages in a row, it’s time to work with a specialist to see if there are underlying issues. Once we establish the cause, we can typically establish the accommodating fertility treatment.
For example:
- We can use preconception genetic screening on you (and potentially your partner) to determine if there is a predisposition for conceiving a child with a genetic disorder
- Complete fertility testing ensures there are no anatomical abnormalities that would cause you to miscarry the baby
- If you’ve been cleared of all typical infertility diagnoses AND you’ve successfully conceived and carried a child in the past (secondary infertility) we’ll begin exploring immuno-related infertility.
- If you’ve had miscarriages in the past and are using IVF to increase your fertility chances, we may recommend using PGT to select the healthiest and most viable embryos for transfer day
Consider Fertility Counseling to Help You Cope with Miscarriage
Aside from the physical diagnoses and testing that will occur, your emotional well-being matters.
While family and friends mean well, they often go back to their regularly scheduled tasks while you’re left with a tremendous sense of sadness, loss and grief. Seeking help from a counselor who specializes in miscarriages and/or fertility issues can help you to heal so you can greet your next pregnancy with a more balanced and confident state of being.