Symptoms of spontaneous abortion

According to the case, spontaneous abortion can result in:

• stopping the progress of the pregnancy without expulsion (often marked by disappearance or attenuation of signs of pregnancy such as nausea or breast pain);
• expulsion of the embryo or fetus.

The symptoms are usually:

• more or less abundant vaginal bleeding. However, bleeding during pregnancy is not always linked to a miscarriage, far from it.
• abdominal cramps, stomach pain or lower back pain.
• vaginal loss of fluid, blood clots, or debris from the uterus.

After one Abortion, abdominal cramps and bleeding may occur, with varying intensity, for a few days. Symptoms related to pregnancy gradually disappear as the amount of pregnancy hormones decreases in the blood.

Risk factors for spontaneous abortion

In the first trimester of pregnancy, premature miscarriages are frequent and should not be of great concern. The vast majority of these are sporadic events that correspond to a natural process of elimination of non-viable embryos. Having a single miscarriage does not increase the risk of having more in subsequent pregnancies.

For about 1 to 2% of couples desiring a child, however, miscarriages occur repeatedly (at least three pregnancies terminated spontaneously before 12 weeks gestation, by definition).

The higher the number of miscarriages, the greater the risk in subsequent pregnancies. Thus, this risk is:

• 17 to 35% after 2 spontaneous miscarriages
• 25-46% after 3 miscarriages
• greater than 50% after 6 miscarriages¹¹.

Factors that may increase the risk of a natural miscarriage are¹² :

• age (35 years and over)
• health problems (infections, blood clotting problems, endocrine diseases, autoimmune, uterine or ovarian problems, etc.)
• the consumption of alcohol, drugs or tobacco.
• exposure to certain chemicals, such as pesticides
• taking certain medications or herbal remedies

Risk factors for voluntary termination of pregnancy

Although abortions affect all women, of all ages and all social classes, certain factors are associated with an increased risk of having an abortion:

• lack of easy access to contraception
• lack of sex education programs
• having already had an abortion, which is a risk factor to have it a second time, or several other times¹³.