Can you miscarriage at 20 weeks

Pregnancy loss in the second trimester can be the result of a very preterm delivery like a spontaneous miscarriage in the second trimester or death of the fetus called a fetal demise. Once a pregnancy gets to about 20 weeks gestation, less than 0. A loss at this time in pregnancy is most often a hard and sad experience. Many friends and family already know you are pregnant. What do you do? What do you say? For most women and their partners, the process of grieving is no different than losing a person who has been in your life for some time.

You often have hopes and dreams about your child before that child is born, and losing the pregnancy in the second or third trimester is certainly a loss for a family. Our specialists can evaluate you quickly in an office setting. Any laboratory testing or ultrasound examinations that need to be done can be performed easily and conveniently. We perform our own ultrasound examination in the office and can share the results with you immediately.

Treatment of a second trimester loss is very different than early miscarriage, and our specialists can provide all options to you and your family. We understand that losses at this time require both emotional and medical support. We are happy to review all treatment options but also know that you may need some time.

It is also important for you to know that a fetal demise in the second trimester is not a medical emergency so treatment is not immediately indicated. If you are having very heavy vaginal bleeding or are feeling very sick, you should go to the Emergency Room to see our physicians.

Most women less than 20 weeks of pregnancy do not notice any symptoms of a fetal demise. The test used to check for a fetal demise in the second trimester is an ultrasound examination to see if the baby is moving and growing. Fetal demise is diagnosed when the ultrasound examination shows no fetal heart activity. The causes of a pregnancy loss in the second trimester are very different than early pregnancy loss. There are medical conditions that increase the risk for cervical insufficiency or preterm labor before viability which include:.

There are also some medical conditions that are associated with fetal death in the second trimester which include:. The specialists at UC Davis Health will review with you what testing is indicated to help learn more about why a second trimester loss occurred. Despite the testing that is available, about half of the time there is no identifiable reason for a second trimester loss.

We can work with you to figure out what may be helpful with a next pregnancy or to learn more about medical issues that are important for your future. It is typically not safe for a woman to wait for the pregnancy to deliver on its own with a second trimester loss.

There is a high chance of having significant bleeding when a pregnancy in the second trimester delivers on its own at home. These changes can put a woman at a much higher chance of significant bleeding if she waits for a long time after the fetal demise to deliver the pregnancy.

Our doctors are committed to providing all available treatment options. Testing to figure out the cause of the pregnancy loss can be performed regardless of the method a woman chooses for termination. We understand that a second trimester loss is an emotional and stressful time and we want to ensure that the emotional needs of you and your family are met as well.

We understand this is a time that you need support and we are sensitive to your wishes for remembrances and religious preferences. This leaflet looks at how your loss might affect you, your partner and other people in your life. It also suggests ways to help you through. Home Information Miscarriage Late miscarriage Most miscarriages happen in the first 12 or 13 weeks of pregnancy. What is a late miscarriage?

If a baby dies at or after 24 weeks of pregnancy, this is called a stillbirth. These definitions apply to the UK — they can differ in other countries. Why do late miscarriages happen? Causes of late miscarriage The main causes of late miscarriage are thought to be: Chromosome problems: These are usually one-off events, happening out of the blue, but they might be due to a problem that you or your partner have, probably without knowing.

Examples of chromosome arrangements or differences that can cause miscarriage are Downs Syndrome, Edwards Syndrome and Turners Syndrome. This is the cause of more than half of all early miscarriages, but it can cause late loss too. If blood clots too easily during pregnancy, it can cause early or late miscarriage, as well as other pregnancy problems. And so that, that all still happened.

And I still - I mean, this all quite hard to talk about with anybody that I know. I think it's almost like because she hadn't reached twenty four weeks, it wasn't legitimate, it was - Because it was still termed as a miscarriage. And because there hadn't been a birth certificate or a death certificate, it's almost like everyone - it's almost like it was minimised and wasn't that big of a deal.

Not just for the people who were involved at the hospital, but for like families as well. They didn't really seem to grasp what had happened, or how horrific it had been. Or that you know, a few days here and there shouldn't really make much difference. I mean, I think if she'd have been born at twenty four weeks, I think Kirsty would have been able to have like some maternity leave. Which I'm sure would have really helped her.

She'd have very much appreciated that extra time off work. As it was, she was - she was back there herself after a couple of weeks. I don't know. I'm sure it wouldn't have helped the loss or the grief to have had the paperwork, but I think perhaps how other people dealt with it, they might have been a bit more sympathetic, I guess is the word.

A bit more understanding, that we'd been through something quite, quite bad. Carly felt that having a birth and death certificate would give her baby more dignity and validate her grief. So it's just like - it's just like insult to injury, isn't it.

Same with the birth certificate. We got a little - was classed as a certificate of life. But really, it's just a printed out bit of paper that the hospital gives you, that's not formal, it's not recognised, and it's not official. Like a birth and death certificate, I think - they just give your baby that bit of, bit more dignity. Rather than - You wouldn't feel that you'd need to explain it so much, or like how you're feeling. It's like a - And it's almost like a recognition of your grief.

Like if you've got that birth and death certificate, like they were here and then they died. And like the way you're feeling is valid. Whereas it doesn't feel as valid if you don't have those. The one thing that's like really important to me, which I keep, in her memory box - like I keep all her stuff in, but the most important thing in there is her little wristband. They put the wristband on her. You know, saying 'baby Josephine'.

Kirsty found it particularly painful not receiving a birth or death certificate. Her baby was born two days before the official 24 weeks. And then I remember saying to the midwife, "What do we do about a death certificate? What do I have to do about all of that? And I said, "I've just had a miscarriage, haven't I? Or, what we had that night was a baby. We got to cuddle her, we got to put clothes on her.

And that is not a miscarriage. And we did have a couple of family members refer to her as miscarriages. And I put - I said, "Please don't refer to her like that again. We had a baby. A lot of our experience with Rebecca, I can see from two angles.

I know why it was done. And I know why it would be seemingly to help us, but also, did it really? And when I'd asked about the birth certificate, we got given like a fake birth certificate. And I know that some people would probably love that. And I know that that was given to us because they wanted us to know that they recognised we'd just had a baby.

I don't want a fake birth certificate. And I think out of the whole experience, my hang-up has been the birth certificate. She was two days short. They had a crash team there. We had a baby, but she'll never be recognised by UK law. She'll never - she just didn't exist. And people treat you differently. People do treat it like you've had a miscarriage. And they'll tell you about their experiences of having a miscarriage.

And I'm not going to take anybody's pain away, and say that my pain was worse than anybody else's. Because it's a very individual thing.

But it's just a different experience. And I don't think you can put them in the same box. And having a loss of a baby at fewer weeks and having one where you have got a baby, they are different experiences.

Same kind of pain, but different experiences. But I was all of a sudden in this other box that I didn't want to be in. Emily and Mike felt the word stillbirth much better described their experience than miscarriage. Mike: I, I don't like - Miscarriage is obviously in common usage, everyone uses it.

If you're pregnant and you don't have a baby, it's a miscarriage as well. But I think from like a - There has to be some better way of like categorising different stages of what a miscarriage can consist of.

Emily: I feel she's more under the stillbirth bracket. Because I gave birth, and she was still [laugh].