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| Causes of Miscarriage | Exact causes of miscarriage are not perfectly known. It is quite difficult to determine the reason of a first-trimester miscarriage. Nevertheless, the most common reason is an abnormal passing of the pregnancy. As a rule, neither woman nor her care provider can prevent it.
 Chromosomal abnormality in the fetus is one of the known factors that can cause miscarriage in the first trimester. Chromosomes are the tiny little thread-like structures in each cell. They carry our genes, which dictate all characteristics from hair color to the workings of our internal organs. Each person has 46 chromosomes, or 23 pairs of them. The pair of chromosomes consists of one mother’s and one father’s. Approximately 70% of all first-trimester miscarriages are caused by chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus.
Most chromosomal abnormalities result from a defective egg or sperm cells. Immature sperm and egg cells divide to form mature cells with 23 chromosomes before pregnancy. It sometimes happens that cell splits unevenly, thus sperm or egg cells get too many or too few chromosomes. In case when a cell has the wrong number of chromosomes, the embryo gets a chromosomal abnormality that usually leads to miscarriage. Chromosomal abnormalities become more usual things with age, so women after 35 years have higher risk of miscarriage than younger women.
Chromosomal abnormalities also can lead to a “blighted ovum”; it is such kind of pregnancy when the embryo stops its development very early. In the early stage of the pregnancy, woman may notice that  pregnancy symptoms have stopped and dark-brown vaginal bleeding usually begins. An empty pregnancy sac may be discovered by ultrasound. A “blighted ovum” results in miscarriage, which may not occur for some weeks. In such cases doctors often offer a D & C procedure for not to wait the natural emptying of the uterus. However, natural removing of the embryo is not so dangerous for woman’s health as surgical procedure. So a woman and her care provider choose the most appropriate way.
Hormonal problems, infections and maternal health problems can also cause early miscarriage. They are badly controlled diabetes, thyroid diseases and systemic lupus erythematosus. Scientific study discovered that an infection called bacterial vaginosis increase the risk of miscarriage in nine times.
A mother’s lifestyle has great influence upon the embryo’s health condition. Women who drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or use drugs increase their risk of miscarriage. By the way, one study suggested that pain-relieving medications may also increase the risk of a first-trimester miscarriage.
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