How long does bleeding last after early miscarriage

How Long Does a Miscarriage Last?

Medically reviewed by Holly Ernst, PA-C — By Valencia Higuera on June 13, 2018

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Overview

A miscarriage is the loss of a pregnancy before week 20. About 10 to 20 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage, though the actual percentage is likely higher because some pregnancies are lost very early, before a woman realizes she is pregnant.

How long a miscarriage lasts can vary, depending on several factors. Read on to learn more about miscarriages.

Risks of having a miscarriage

The risk of a miscarriage increases with age. Women under age 35 have about a 15 percent chance of miscarriage. Women between the ages of 35 and 45 have a 20–35 percent chance.

If you become pregnant after the age of 45, your chance of miscarriage increases to 80 percent.

A miscarriage can happen to anyone, but the risk is higher if you’ve had prior miscarriages, have a chronic condition such as diabetes, or have uterine or cervical problems.

Other contributing factors include being:

smoking
alcohol abuse
being underweight
being overweight

How long does a miscarriage last?

If you experience a miscarriage before realizing you’re pregnant, you may think the bleeding and cramping are due to your menstrual cycle. So, some women have miscarriages and never realize it.

The length of a miscarriage differs for every woman, and it depends on different factors, including:

how far along you are in the pregnancy
whether you were carrying multiples
how long it takes your body to expel the fetal tissue and placenta

A woman early in her pregnancy may have a miscarriage and only experience bleeding and cramping for a few hours. But another woman may have miscarriage bleeding for up to a week.

The bleeding can be heavy with clots, but it slowly tapers off over days before stopping, usually within two weeks.

Symptoms of a miscarriage

A miscarriage is the spontaneous loss of a fetus. Most miscarriages take place before week 12 of pregnancy.

Symptoms of a miscarriage may include:

vaginal spotting or bleeding
abdominal or pelvic pain
cramping in the lower back
fluid or discharge from the vagina

What are the causes of a miscarriage?

Miscarriages can be caused by many things. Some miscarriages occur because of abnormalities with a developing fetus, such as:

blighted ovum
molar pregnancy, a noncancerous tumor in the uterus that in rare cases develops into cancer

Chromosomal abnormalities caused by an abnormal egg or sperm account for about half of all miscarriages. Another potential cause is trauma to the stomach due to invasive procedures, such as chorionic villus sampling. Early in pregnancy, it would be unlikely that an accident or fall could result in miscarriage, since the uterus is so small and well protected within the bony pelvis.

Other causes include certain maternal diseases that put pregnancies at risk. Some miscarriages are unexplained with no cause known.

Daily activities do not typically cause a pregnancy loss. These include activities like exercise (once your doctor says it’s OK) and sex.

What to do if you have a miscarriage

If you think you’re having a miscarriage, seek medical help immediately. Any vaginal bleeding or pelvic pain should be evaluated. There are different tests your doctor can run to determine a miscarriage.

Your doctor will check your cervix during a pelvic examination. Your doctor might perform an ultrasound to check the fetal heartbeat. A blood test can look for the pregnancy hormone.

If you’ve passed pregnancy tissue, bring a sample of the tissue to your appointment so your doctor can confirm the miscarriage.

Types of miscarriage

There are different types of miscarriages. These include:

Threatened miscarriage

During a threatened miscarriage your cervix isn’t dilated, but you do experience bleeding. There is still a viable pregnancy present. There’s a risk of miscarriage, but with observation and medical intervention, you may be able to continue the pregnancy.

Inevitable miscarriage

An inevitable miscarriage is when your cervix is dilated and your uterus is contracting. You may already be passing some of the pregnancy tissue vaginally. This is a miscarriage already in progress.

Incomplete miscarriage

Your body releases some fetal tissue, but some of the tissue remains in your uterus.

Missed miscarriage

During a missed miscarriage, the embryo has died, but the placenta and embryonic tissue remain in your uterus. You may not have any symptoms, and the diagnosis is made incidentally on an ultrasound exam.

Complete miscarriage

During a complete miscarriage your body passes all the pregnancy tissue.

If you ignore a possible miscarriage, you could develop septic miscarriage, which is a rare but serious uterine infection. Symptoms of this complication include a fever, chills, abdominal tenderness, and foul-smelling vaginal discharge.

Ways to treat a miscarriage

Treatments vary according to the type of miscarriage. With a threatened miscarriage, your doctor may recommend you rest and limit activity until the pain and bleeding stop. If there’s a continued risk for a miscarriage, you may have to remain on bed rest until labor and delivery.

In some cases, you can let a miscarriage progress naturally. This process can take up to a couple of weeks. Your doctor will review bleeding precautions with you and what to expect. A second option is for your doctor to give you medication to help you pass the pregnancy tissue and placenta faster. This medication can be taken orally or vaginally.

Treatment is usually effective within 24 hours. If your body doesn’t expel all the tissue or placenta, your doctor can perform a procedure called dilation and curettage (D and C). This involves dilating the cervix and removing any remaining tissue. You could also discuss having a D and C with your doctor as first-line treatment, without using medication or letting your body pass the tissue on its own.

Next steps

A pregnancy loss can occur even if you do eliminate risk factors like smoking and drinking. Sometimes, there’s nothing you can do to prevent a miscarriage.

After a miscarriage, you can expect a menstrual cycle within about four to six weeks. After this point, you can conceive again. You can also take precautions against having a miscarriage. These include:

taking prenatal vitamins
limiting your caffeine intake to 200 milligrams per day
managing other medical conditions you may have, such as diabetes or high blood pressure

Shop for prenatal vitamins.

Having a miscarriage doesn’t mean you can’t have a baby. But if you have multiple miscarriages, your doctor may suggest testing to determine if there is an underlying cause.

Last medically reviewed on June 13, 2018

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How we reviewed this article:

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10.1097/AOG.0b013e3181eeb2a1
Andersen N, et al. (2000). Maternal age and fetal loss: population based register linkage study.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=10864550
Management of miscarriage: Your options. (2016).
miscarriageassociation.org.uk/wp/wp-content/leaflets/Management-of-miscarriage. pdf
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2016). Miscarriage.
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pregnancy-loss-miscarriage/basics/causes/con-20033827
Miscarriage. (2017).
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Nelson DB, et al. (2003). Violence does not influence early pregnancy loss.
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Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

Current Version

Jun 13, 2018

Valencia Higuera

Edited By

Frank Crooks

Medically Reviewed By

Holly Ernst, PA-C

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Medically reviewed by Holly Ernst, PA-C — By Valencia Higuera on June 13, 2018

What Does a Miscarriage Look Like? Bleeding, Duration, and More

A miscarriage is a spontaneous pregnancy loss before 20 weeks of gestation. Some 8 to 20 percent known pregnancies end in miscarriage, with the majority happening before the 12th week.

The signs and symptoms of miscarriage vary from person to person. Symptoms may also vary depending on how far along you are. For example, a fetus at 14 weeks will be much larger than a fetus at 5 weeks of gestation, so there may be more bleeding and tissue loss with a later miscarriage.

Miscarriage symptoms may include:

spotting or bleeding from the vagina
abdominal cramping or pain in the lower back
passage of tissue, fluid, or other products from the vagina

Read on to learn more about identifying a miscarriage and what to do if you suspect you’re experiencing one.

Bleeding may start as light spotting, or it could be heavier and appear as a gush of blood. As the cervix dilates to empty, the bleeding becomes heavier.

The heaviest bleeding is generally over within three to five hours from the time heavy bleeding begins. Lighter bleeding may stop and start over one to two weeks before it completely ends.

The color of the blood can range from pink to red to brown. Red blood is fresh blood that leaves the body quickly. Brown blood, on the other hand, is blood that’s been in the uterus a while. You may see discharge the color of coffee grounds, or near black, during a miscarriage.

Exactly how much bleeding you’ll experience depends on a variety of circumstances, including how far along you are and whether or not your miscarriage is progressing naturally.

While you may see a lot of blood, let your doctor know if you fill more than two sanitary pads an hour for two or more hours in a row.

What does a missed miscarriage look like?

You may not experience bleeding or other symptoms with a miscarriage, at least at first.

A missed miscarriage, also referred to as a missed abortion, happens when the fetus has died but the products of conception remain in the uterus. This type of miscarriage is usually diagnosed via ultrasound.

Just as with the amount of blood you’ll see, the duration of a miscarriage will vary from person to person and even from pregnancy to pregnancy.

In many cases, a miscarriage will take around two weeks to pass naturally. Your doctor may prescribe the medication misoprostol (Cytotec) to help a miscarriage pass more quickly. Bleeding may start within two days of beginning the medication. For others, it may take up to two weeks.

Once the miscarriage has started, the tissue and heaviest bleeding should be passed in about three to five hours. After the fetus has passed, you may still experience spotting and mild tissue loss for one to two weeks.

It may be difficult to tell a very early miscarriage from a late period. In fact, many miscarriages happen before a person even knows they’re pregnant.

In general, a miscarriage will cause more intense symptoms than a menstrual period. For example:

Your menstrual flow may be relatively similar from month to month with heavy days and light days. A miscarriage can also have heavy and light days, but bleeding may be especially heavy at times and last longer than you’re used to.
Bleeding from a miscarriage may also contain large clots and tissue you don’t normally see during your period.
Cramps can be a part of your normal monthly cycle, but with a miscarriage, they may be particularly painful as the cervix dilates.
The color of blood during your period can range from pink to red to brown. If you see a color you’re not used to seeing, it may be a sign of miscarriage.

Always contact your doctor if you’re pregnant and experience bleeding. While a miscarriage can’t be stopped once it starts, you doctor can run tests to help determine if you’re experiencing the loss of your pregnancy or something else.

To diagnose a miscarriage, your doctor will likely perform an ultrasound to look for the baby’s heartbeat, if you’re far enough along to see a heartbeat. Your doctor may also order a blood test to check human chorionic gonadotropin (hcG) levels to see if they’re rising or falling.

If a miscarriage is confirmed, your doctor may suggest “expectant management” or waiting for the miscarriage to pass naturally. This generally happens within two weeks.

Incomplete miscarriage

The miscarriage may be incomplete if:

your bleeding is particularly heavy
you have a fever
an ultrasound reveals there’s still tissue in your uterus

If this is the case, your doctor may suggest a dilation and curettage (D and C), which is a surgical procedure done to remove remaining tissue. The procedure is done under general or regional anesthesia, and is considered safe. D and C doesn’t usually lead to long-term complications.

Threatened miscarriage

It’s important to report any bleeding or pain you experience in your pregnancy to your doctor. In some cases, you may have what’s called a threatened miscarriage, and there may be certain treatments that can help. These include:

hormone supplements if the bleeding is caused by low progesterone
a cerclage (stitch in the cervix) if the issue is with the cervix opening prematurely

Speak with your healthcare provider if you’re looking to get pregnant again after a miscarriage. While it may be safe to start trying after your first normal period, you may want to schedule a checkup depending on the cause or the number of miscarriages you’ve had.

The reason for loss isn’t always known, but around half of miscarriages are caused by issues with the baby’s chromosomes.

Other possible causes include:

uterine issues
hormonal imbalances
other health conditions, such as diabetes, autoimmune disorders, or polycystic ovary syndrome

After a miscarriage, you may have hcG in your blood for one to two months, which could lead to a false positive pregnancy test. In most cases, your period will return within four to six weeks, though you may start ovulating almost immediately following a miscarriage.

Speak with your doctor about birth control options if you don’t wish to become pregnant after a miscarriage.

Will I miscarry again?

Having one miscarriage doesn’t necessarily increases your chances of having another. The risk remains around 20 percent.

Two or more miscarriages is referred to as recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). The risk of miscarriage after two losses is 28 percent. After three consecutive losses, it increases to 43 percent.

Only 1 percent of people experience three or more miscarriages. About 65 percent of those with unexplained RPL go on to have successful pregnancies.

Activities like exercise, work, morning sickness, and sex don’t cause miscarriages. Even things like smoking or drinking alcohol or caffeine, which can lead to other complications, are also unlikely to lead to early pregnancy loss.

A miscarriage can be physically painful, and it may also cause a variety of emotions. While your body may recover in a few weeks, be sure to take time to process your feelings, grieve, and reach out for help when you need it.

What to do after a miscarriage - recovering from a miscarriage

A miscarriage can be a difficult topic to talk about, but sometimes talking is the best way to come to terms with it and start healing from the whole experience.

Let's dive deeper into what happens to the body after a miscarriage, as well as learn how to deal with your own feelings.

A miscarriage is when an embryo or fetus does not survive in the uterus during the first 23 weeks of pregnancy. ^[1] Miscarriage is more common than most people think: every 4th pregnancy ends like this. Just because it isn't talked about often doesn't mean it's rare.

Talking about miscarriages can be difficult, because often it is a real grief. However, this topic is becoming less and less taboo, and many women come together in solidarity to share their experiences. This way they know they are not alone in their grief.

A miscarriage is a whole process: your body will be under a lot of physical and emotional stress both during and after the miscarriage. Therefore, we will look at how this situation changes your body in terms of periods, future pregnancies and emotions.

What is bleeding and discharge during a miscarriage?

The most common symptom of a miscarriage is vaginal bleeding during pregnancy. The severity of this bleeding can vary from person to person: sometimes it is heavy with blood clots, other times it can be just spots or brown discharge. This bleeding can last up to 2 weeks. Another symptom of a miscarriage is abdominal pain. They occur when the muscles of the uterus contract to push all the tissues of the embryo or fetus out of the cavity in the form of clots through the vagina.

Regardless of the amount of blood you have from your vagina during pregnancy, you need to see a doctor as soon as possible. While not all bleeding during pregnancy is a sign of a miscarriage (implantation bleeding is considered normal in the early stages of pregnancy), it's always best to see a doctor if you're concerned.

What will my first period be like after a miscarriage?

Having experienced a miscarriage, you may wonder how your body will react to it and if there will be any long-term consequences. Miscarriages rarely change the body forever, but you need to give the body time to get used to and return to its normal rhythm of life.

After a miscarriage, you can expect your period to return to normal in about 4-6 weeks, although recovery time varies from person to person and can take up to several months. ^[2]

Don't worry about the return of your period, instead give yourself time to rest while your body repairs and heals.

Getting pregnant after a miscarriage

Some women may immediately return to trying to conceive after a miscarriage, while others may take some time to "digest" the event. Some may even wonder if they even want to have children. Whatever your reaction to your own experience, it is important to recognize that there is no right or wrong way - we all cope differently.

If you still want to try again, it is usually recommended to wait until the symptoms of the miscarriage have passed to prevent infection. ^[3] You can also wait until your period starts again so that you can calculate your future pregnancy dates more accurately.

And remember: you can always consult your doctor about a new pregnancy, but most importantly, you decide when you are ready.

Dealing with your feelings after a miscarriage

The consequences of a miscarriage can be felt immediately after it or after a while - everyone mourns the baby in different ways. No matter how you react, it is important to understand that you did nothing wrong: miscarriage is not related to your personal strength or ability.

I hate to talk about this, but expressing thoughts and emotions can really help in the healing process. And even if at first it seems uncomfortable to talk to people about a miscarriage, you will be surprised how many women understand what you have gone through and are ready to provide support.

There are also many charities and associations dedicated to helping people with spontaneous abortions. So if you ever need comforting advice, there are many more people you can turn to besides friends and family.

Miscarriage is no doubt a difficult topic to discuss, but silence only reinforces the taboo and prevents many people from seeking support. Remember that you are not alone and that it is okay to speak up when you feel ready to do so.

To further discuss pregnancy, check out our articles on fertility treatments and what it's like to be childless by choice.

Medical disclaimer

The medical information contained in this article is for reference only and should not be used for any diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Consult your doctor about a specific medical condition.

[Links]

^[1] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/miscarriage/

^[2] https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/HealthyLiving/miscarriage#after-a-miscarriage

^[3] https://www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk/information/worried-about-pregnancy-loss/trying-again/

Spontaneous abortion (miscarriage)

If the pregnancy is terminated naturally before the fetus reaches gestational age - this is called spontaneous abortion or miscarriage. More than half of miscarriages occur no later than 12 weeks of gestation due to fetal abnormalities. The rest falls on the period up to 20 weeks and is associated with pathologies of pregnancy. If the pregnancy is terminated in the second half, it is called preterm labor.

Spontaneous abortion, otherwise known as miscarriage, is one of the most common complications during pregnancy, accounting for 10-20% of diagnosed pregnancies, and is the rejection of a fetus weighing no more than 500 grams. and less than 22 weeks. Unfortunately, with such indicators, the fetus is not viable. Usually 80% of the total number of spontaneous abortions occurs before the 12th week of pregnancy.

Types of spontaneous abortion

1. Threat of miscarriage - characterized by mild uterine cramps, pulling pain in the lower abdomen and sometimes mild bloody discharge from the vagina.

2. A miscarriage that has begun - is characterized by more severe pain and profuse bleeding. At the same time, the tone of the uterus is slightly increased, and the internal os is closed.

3. Inevitable miscarriage - accompanied by dilatation of the cervix - a fetal egg can be distinguished - with profuse bleeding and severe cramps in the lower abdomen.

4. Incomplete miscarriage - part of the fetus comes out. The bleeding is so profuse that it can lead to the death of a woman.

5. Completed miscarriage - the fetal egg and the fetus itself are completely out. After that, the bleeding and spasms stop.

The etiology of miscarriage is due to many factors. Among them:

- genetic disorders;

- previous induced abortions;

- too little time has passed since the previous pregnancy;

- inflammatory infections in the mother, endocrine disorders;

- blood conflict between mother and fetus;

- taking hormonal contraceptives and certain medications;

- smoking during pregnancy and drinking alcohol;

- unknown causes.

To prevent miscarriage, it is necessary to give up bad habits, not to have abortions and to be regularly examined by a doctor.

Spontaneous abortion begins with the appearance of cramping, pulling pains, similar to pain during menstruation. Then bleeding from the uterus begins. At first, the discharge is slight or moderate, and then, after detachment of the fetal egg, abundant discharge with bloody clots begins. The appearance of these symptoms requires urgent hospitalization.

After examining a woman in a hospital, having determined the degree of detachment of the embryo, one of the following diagnoses will be made:

- a threat of pregnancy - detachment is only outlined or is completely insignificant. In this case, the pregnancy can be saved;

- a miscarriage that has begun - detachment is already quite decent with a pronounced pain syndrome. And in this case, the fetus can be saved;

- abortion in progress - detachment with displacement progresses, labor-like contractions begin. Pregnancy cannot be saved, cleaning is required;

- incomplete miscarriage - independent exit of a part of the fetus and membranes, curettage is necessary for the final curettage of the uterus;

- late abortion - premature delivery of an unviable baby.

After a spontaneous abortion, it is recommended to take a short break in planning and take preventive measures to avoid recurrence.

In case of repeated miscarriage, a thorough comprehensive examination is necessary to determine the causes of miscarriage and eliminate them.

A miscarriage is a severe psychological trauma, especially during the first pregnancy. But do not give up, with a competent approach to planning and bearing, the next pregnancy will certainly end with the appearance of a long-awaited baby.

Causes of spontaneous abortion

1. Doctors call various chromosomal pathologies one of the main reasons: monosomy, autosomal trisomies, polyploidy. They account for 82-88% of spontaneous miscarriages.

2. The second most common cause is disorders in the female genital area: endometritis - inflammation of the uterine mucosa - preventing the implantation of the fetal egg and its development and polycystic ovaries.

3. Hormonal disorders, namely progesterone deficiency.