fbpx

Q&A: Miscarriage Prevention

One of our fertility doctors, Barry W. Donesky, MD, sat down to answer common questions around miscarriages. Watch the video below to see the full interview or read our transcript to learn more.

What is my risk of having a miscarriage?

In general, someone conceiving spontaneously, a miscarriage risk is probably somewhere in the rate of about 30% overall. Those rates do go up as women get older because we do see more and more genetically abnormal conceptuses occurring with that. But in general, for someone in their early 20s, that chance is probably as low as 15%, but may go as high as 40 or 45% in patients over 40.

At what stage of my pregnancy am I most at risk of having a miscarriage?

Most miscarriages are already suspected on that first ultrasound at six or seven weeks. What we want to see and why we do the monitoring in early pregnancy is to make sure that we are seeing adequate fetal growth, that we’re meeting landmarks that should happen at various times during the pregnancy. But in general, most miscarriages will happen probably around seven to eight weeks gestation.

How important is my diet for preventing miscarriage?

One of the biggest factors with miscarriage is a good healthy diet. We generally consider that with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Those antioxidants in those plant-based foods are very important to have for pregnancy.

Things to avoid would be a lot of seafood that could have potentially a mercury contamination, those sorts of things.

Are cats dangerous for my pregnancy?

Cats are a concern because of something called toxoplasmosis, which can be present in the in the litter from the cat. In general, if a cat is an indoor cat and has not been exposed to the outside, it is probably relatively safe. But we would advise having someone else change the the litter boxes of those animals. But in general, just being around the animal should not be a problem.

Should I be worried about getting sick while I’m pregnant?

Certainly, you would want to avoid being around people that are sick, but most respiratory diseases will not be a major problem for an otherwise healthy woman.

We want to avoid situations where you could catch something significant. There’s always been a concern about COVID, but we really haven’t seen huge impacts on pregnancy with COVID in otherwise healthy women.

When in my pregnancy should I consult my doctor about the medications that I take?

Most medication problems in pregnancy that can cause, for example, birth defects, will happen fairly early, before about eight or nine weeks of gestation. So once you find out you’re pregnant, that’s the time. The earlier the better. But most of the major organ systems are developing between six and ten weeks of pregnancy.

Will me or my partner’s drinking, smoking, and/or vaping impact my chances of having a miscarriage?

Very definitely, certainly smoking, and we believe vaping to a lesser extent, but still significant, has dramatic increases in the likelihood of miscarriage. We would certainly advise anyone planning a pregnancy to stop those or drastically cut back on those habits before becoming pregnant. And certainly alcohol. We know about fetal alcohol syndrome. If something is bad for you, how much is good, the ideal would be to eliminate those altogether.

Is my personal health important for preventing miscarriage?

Maintaining an ideal weight, a good healthy diet with, again, lots of antioxidants, particularly from fresh fruits and vegetables, is very important. Moderate level exercise is also very helpful, very important in good pre-pregnancy and pregnancy care.

Have more questions about the risk of miscarriages?

Get in touch with our team at the Fertility Center in Chattanooga or Knoxville.