A miscarriage is the natural end of pregnancy when the developing embryo or fetus is less than 20 weeks old and incapable of surviving outside the womb. Miscarriages that occur less than six weeks after your last menstrual period are referred to as an early pregnancy loss, whereas miscarriages that occur after this point are termed clinical spontaneous abortion. If you are less than six weeks pregnant, you may not even realize you have been so, and may mistake the miscarriage for a heavy menstrual bleed.

Miscarriage is caused by the death of an infant while still in the womb. The causes for such occurrences are not always known, but there are factors that can make it more statistically frequent. Age is a definite factor in increasing the numbers of losses that might occur. Once a woman has one miscarriage the possibility of another one increases, but real numbers are hard to be sure, because there are just too many variables. There are many studies that have numbers that are considered to be statistically significant, but they are not be relied upon for lifes decisions.

This factsheet is for people who have had a miscarriage or for those who want to know more about them. Each year in the UK, hundreds of thousands of women are affected by miscarriage. A miscarriage is when a pregnancy ends before 24 weeks. In the vast majority of cases, there is no way of preventing a miscarriage. Having a miscarriage does not mean that you wont be able to get pregnant again, and most women go on to have a successful pregnancy.

Ectopic pregnancy symptoms are abdominal and are characterized by pelvic pain and vaginal bleeding. These are often confused with the pregnancy symptoms of miscarriage or pelvic inflammatory diseases. The best thing is to approach your doctor if you experience any of these symptoms as a delay in action might cause a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, which is a serious medical condition.

Try to avoid if possible using these lines in the first few weeks. You can have another one’ ‘at least it was early day’s’ ‘there must have been something wrong with it’ ‘it happens for a reason’ These words although may have a ring of truth are not consoling at the time.

Foetal medicine expert Professor Kypros Nicolaides from Londons King College Hospital supports the reform: "It is completely unacceptable that in order to detect 600, 700 or 800 foetuses with Downs syndrome, we must tolerate the intolerable loss of 400 - more or less - normal babies. Our aim must be to improve the detection of fetuses with Downs in those women who want to have a test and dramatically reduce the number of normal babies that are lost as part of the process of screening and diagnosis."

If you feel uncomfortable being recognized as a mother at a banquet or other function, substitute an activity you would feel good about. If you would rather not receive or wear a flower, then wear an item that helps you to connect with your baby, such as a piece of jewelry that includes the baby’s birthstone.