Recurrent miscarriage
If you’ve had IVF treatment previously that hasn’t been successful or if you have experienced recurrent miscarriage, we will do everything we can to help you.
We understand how painful failed treatment and recurrent miscarriage can be and we know how important it is to identify the reasons why this is happening before deciding how to progress with future treatment.
What is Recurrent Miscarriage?
Recurrent miscarriage is usually defined as having three or more miscarriages in the row, ie the loss of three or more pregnancies before 24 weeks with no successful pregnancies in between.
However, there are a number of tests and treatment available at Care that can help identify the causes and allow us to create a tailored treatment plan that could improve your chances of IVF success.
What are the causes of recurrent miscarriage?
Sadly, there can be a number of reasons why an embryo doesn’t attach in the uterus or miscarries in early pregnancy. Medical science has yet to help us fully understand all the possible reasons but in general terms miscarriage or implantation failure can arise either because the embryo is not viable or because the environment of the uterus isn’t as it should be, or because of the presence of the C4M2 variant in the Annexin A5 Gene.
Chromosome Abnormalities - The embryo
We do know from scientific evidence that genetic abnormalities in embryos increase with the age of the egg provider. It is also possible for a perfectly healthy person to have structural mutations in their chromosomes that don’t cause any problems for them, but cause serious genetic imbalances in embryos created with their eggs or sperm. Genetic abnormalities can lead to failed implantation and miscarriage.
Genetic abnormalities such as the C4M2 variant linked to blood clotting disorders which can lead to failed implantation and miscarriage. Our recurrent miscarriage tests, CareUnity can help identify this abnormality and plan future treatments accordingly.
The Uterus
The conditions in the uterus have to be just right for an embryo to implant. An abnormally-shaped womb can increase your risk of recurrent miscarriage. This is usually diagnosed with an ultrasound that can be used to check the structure of your womb for any abnormalities. Our female diagnostic tests help identify the cause so we can offer you different IVF treatment options to increase your chances of IVF success.
Who can be helped by recurrent miscarriage investigations and treatments?
You might benefit from specialist investigations if you have:
- Had two or more consecutive miscarriages or two or more failed IVF cycles (especially after a transfer of an embryo known to have the usual number of chromosomes following PGT-A testing)
- Miscarried a baby where tissue analysis showed there were no chromosomal abnormalities
- An existing autoimmune illness (rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Crohn’s disease, thyroid illness or psoriasis for example)
- Had previous pregnancies where you had a small for gestational age baby (known as fetal growth restriction) or significant pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure in pregnancy).
What do the recurrent miscarriage and implanation failure investigations involve?
We do two levels of tests to investigate possible causes of implantation failure or recurrent miscarriage, these include tests for chromosomal abnormalities (PGT-A), CareUnity and DNA damage or oxidative stress in the sperm (Male Diagnostic tests).
If you would like more information on any of these tests and to find out if they are suitable for you, you will be able to discuss with your doctor at your consultation. We also have detailed Patient Information documents on all of our tests and treatments.
