Dr. Marjorie Greenfield
Specializing in pregnancy and birth.
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 Ask Dr. Greenfield
Looking for Answers after Two Miscarriages | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Greenfield,
I became pregnant shortly after I stopped taking the Pill. At ten weeks I lost the baby and had a D&C on June 29th. On September 19th, I found out I was pregnant again; I had another miscarriage on October 6th (my D&C is scheduled for November 30th). How long should we wait to try again? Could a lack of or low levels of progesterone have anything to do with the miscarriages?— Dee in New Orleans, LA | | | ANSWER |
December 4, 2001 | | | Dear Dee,
I am so sorry to hear about your losses. It sounds like you have been through an awful lot this year.
Without knowing more about your age and general health, I can't really tell you why you might have had the two miscarriages. Some doctors will perform a work-up for recurrent miscarriage after two; although it's quite possible that there wasn't really a reason and that you were just unlucky with these two pregnancies. Keep in mind that about one in eight pregnancies ends in first trimester loss, and that low progesterone levels can be a sign of miscarriage. Progesterone levels often start to drop once a pregnancy isn't viable.
Luteal phase deficiency is the medical term for when the amount of progesterone produced during the second half of the menstrual cycle is too low to sustain the uterine lining until a pregnancy makes its own progesterone. Most experts believe that luteal phase problems will only cause infertility, or perhaps a very early pregnancy loss, but not a miscarriage as late as ten weeks.
So I'm sorry to say that I can't really tell you why you have suffered through these two losses. Your doctor may be able to help you sort out the issues, and can make a recommendation to you about whether any tests should be done to try to find a cause. As you recover from this loss and contemplate trying again, do remember that even couples with numerous first trimester miscarriages can go on to have healthy pregnancies and lovely babies. Good luck to you!— by Marjorie Greenfield, M.D. |
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