Miscarriage or ‘Spontaneous Abortion’ as it is more commonly known in medical terminology is far commoner than one would believe.

Statistics indicate that approximately ten to twenty per cent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. Eighty per cent of all miscarriages occur before completing twelve weeks of pregnancy.This makes miscarriage an important medical emergency in contemporary times.

Preventing Mis-carriage

Miscarriage can be prevented by adopting some simple precautions:

# 1 Pre – Pregnancy Health Check

One of the commonest causes of miscarrying is untreated sexually transmitted diseases. Thus your doctor will advise you to undergo a blood test before you become pregnant.

Your Doctor will check you for sexually transmitted diseases like Gonorrhoea, Syphilis, Herpes and HIV. The logic being that these diseases can increase the risk of miscarrying.

# 2 Know your Vaccination

Some diseases can increase the risk of miscarriage. Thus your doctor will advise you to get inoculated against these disease conditions.
Your Doctor will ask you for an immunization record to determine as to whether you are protected against diseases.

In case you do not have your vaccination record with you, your doctor will do a blood test to determine as to whether you have been vaccinated in the past.

# 3 Take Folic Acid

When the baby has developmental defects while in the womb of the mother the probability of having a miscarriage are high.

Thus your doctor will prescribe Tab Folic Acid 600 mg per day. It is advisable that you start this regime early; the preferred start time is two months before you get pregnant.

# 4 Lose Weight

Obesity significantly increases the risk of miscarriage. Thus it is advisable to lose weight before you get pregnant.
Obesity is defined as a medical condition wherein the BMI or Body Mass Index of the body is 30 or more.

When you keep your BMI under 30 the risk of miscarriage is minimized.

# 5 Weak Cervix

Sometimes the cervix is weak or incompetent. In such situations your doctor may advise you to undergo a minor surgery wherein a small stitch with thread will be placed around your cervix opening at 12 weeks of pregnancy and it will be removed at 37 weeks of pregnancy.