A miscarriage is defined as a gestational loss before the 20th week of pregnancy. This loss is often associated with a grieving process and this sadness can make us question whether we will be able to become pregnant again. Depending on the type of miscarriage, it may have more or less impact on the woman's future fertility.
Miscarriage
Unfortunately, miscarriages are common in the first weeks of pregnancy. Most of them are caused by genetic or chromosomal problems that compromise the correct development of the embryo. That is why the older the woman is, the oocyte quality is the poorer and, therefore, the risk of miscarriage is increased.
The earlier the miscarriage occurs, the less impact it will have in the future. Miscarriages in the first few weeks are naturally evacuated with a haemorrhage with clots. However, if fetal loss occurs later in gestation, curettage, an surgical procedure to scrape the walls of the uterus to remove any embryonic debris, may be necessary. This scraping, if not performed correctly, can affect the lining of the uterus and complicate the woman's future fertility.
Voluntary or induced abortion
Induced abortion or voluntary termination of pregnancy can be performed by medication in the early weeks of gestation. Beyond the second month, however, only an instrumental abortion can be performed, either by aspiration up to 14 weeks of gestation, or by curettage of the uterine cavity.
Recurrent miscarriages
Having a miscarriage does not imply having fertility problems. A special case, however, is recurrent miscarriages, when a woman suffers 3 or more miscarriages in a row. This could indicate possible genetic abnormalities, immunological factors or uterine malformations that could impair fertility and reduce the chances of achieving a full-term pregnancy if not treated properly.
Seeking a pregnancy after a miscarriage
Since most miscarriages do not affect fertility, the waiting time for trying to get pregnant again depends mainly on the woman's emotional recovery after the miscarriage.
On a physiological level, although the WHO recommends waiting up to 6 months to try to conceive again, many doctors recommend waiting only a couple of cycles to check that the uterus is functioning properly and the endometrium is forming properly to be able to accept an embryo again.