Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical loss.[13][14] Once ultrasound or histological evidence shows that a pregnancy has existed, the term used is clinical miscarriage, which can be "early" before 12 weeks and "late" between 12 and 21 weeks.[13] Fetal death after 20 weeks of gestation is also known as a stillbirth.[15] The most common symptom of a miscarriage is vaginal bleeding with or without pain.[1]Sadness, anxiety, and guilt may occur afterwards.[3][16]Tissue and clot-like material may leave the uterus and pass through and out of the vagina.[17] Recurrent miscarriage (also referred to medically as Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion or RSA)[18] may also be considered a form of infertility.[19]
Miscarriage is the most common complication of early pregnancy.[21] Among women who know they are pregnant, the miscarriage rate is roughly 10% to 20%, while rates among all fertilisation is around 30% to 50%.[1][7] In those under the age of 35, the risk is about 10% while in those over the age of 40, the risk is about 45%.[1] Risk begins to increase around the age of 30.[7] About 5% of women have two miscarriages in a row.[22] Some recommend not using the term "abortion" in discussions with those experiencing a miscarriage to decrease distress.[23] In Britain, the term "miscarriage" has replaced any use of the term "spontaneous abortion" for pregnancy loss and in response to complaints of insensitivity towards women who had suffered such loss.[24] An additional benefit of this change is reducing confusion among medical laymen, who may not realize that the term "spontaneous abortion" refers to a naturally occurring medical phenomenon and not the intentional termination of pregnancy.
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^"Stillbirth: Overview". NICHD. September 23, 2014. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
^Radford EJ, Hughes M (June 2015). "Women's experiences of early miscarriage: implications for nursing care". Journal of Clinical Nursing. 24 (11–12): 1457–1465. doi:10.1111/jocn.12781. PMID25662397.
^"Glossary | womenshealth.gov". womenshealth.gov. January 10, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.