Miscarriages Can Happen To Any Woman
When a mom is breastfeeding and becomes pregnant, then has a loss, there is that question of was it something I did, was it because I was breastfeeding? I think it's important to remember though that a chemical pregnancy and other forms of miscarriages can happen whether a mother is breastfeeding or not. That risk is always there and most of the times we never think about it until it happens to us personally or someone we know.
According to the information I found on American Pregnancy.com website, "For women in their childbearing years, the chances of having a miscarriage can range from 10-25%, and in most healthy women the average is about a 15-20% chance. Women under the age of 35 yrs old have about a 15% chance of miscarriage. Women who are 35-45 yrs old have a 20-35% chance of miscarriage. Women over the age of 45 can have up to a 50% chance of miscarriage. A woman who has had a previous miscarriage has a 25% chance of having another - only a slightly elevated risk than for someone who has not had a previous miscarriage" (Miscarriage: Signs, Symptoms, Treatments, and Prevention).
Just to show how this can happen to any woman and how common it is, I use an example from one of the women in my Endometriosis Support group. This woman has Endometriosis, one ovary, and is a nonbreastfeeding woman. She was expecting her first child and went in for her first ultrasound around 11 weeks. Her OBGYN office had already confirmed the pregnancy with a positive pregnancy test. Around 9.5 weeks she noticed her morning sickness started waning after 5 weeks straight of morning sickness. That ultrasound revealed a miscarriage, more specifically a blighted ovum. According to the American Pregnancy Association website, "A blighted ovum is a first-trimester miscarriage. It's when a fertilized egg attaches to the uterine wall, but no baby/fetus forms, only a gestational sac". It also adds this, "High levels of chromosomal abnormalities usually causes a woman's body to naturally miscarry" (Blight Ovum: Symptoms, Causes, and Prevention). There was nothing this woman could have done.
Just to show how this can happen to any woman and how common it is, I use an example from one of the women in my Endometriosis Support group. This woman has Endometriosis, one ovary, and is a nonbreastfeeding woman. She was expecting her first child and went in for her first ultrasound around 11 weeks. Her OBGYN office had already confirmed the pregnancy with a positive pregnancy test. Around 9.5 weeks she noticed her morning sickness started waning after 5 weeks straight of morning sickness. That ultrasound revealed a miscarriage, more specifically a blighted ovum. According to the American Pregnancy Association website, "A blighted ovum is a first-trimester miscarriage. It's when a fertilized egg attaches to the uterine wall, but no baby/fetus forms, only a gestational sac". It also adds this, "High levels of chromosomal abnormalities usually causes a woman's body to naturally miscarry" (Blight Ovum: Symptoms, Causes, and Prevention). There was nothing this woman could have done.
Do I have to wean if I miscarry while breastfeeding?
In the article, Breast-Feeding During Pregnancy: A Painful, Controversial Choice, "Though no research has found any increased risk of miscarriage in women who continue breastfeeding during pregnancy, women might want to consider weaning if they are experiencing bleeding during early pregnancy," says Dr. Berens. But be sure to confirm the pregnancy is viable. "If the pregnancy has already miscarried or is 'non-viable' (meaning no fetus has formed or the fetus has no heartbeat), then there is no benefit to weaning," Dr. Berens says (Breastfeeding During Pregnancy). I will add there is a difference between spotting and heavy bleeding accompanied by cramping.
According to the article, Breastfeeding During Pregnancy and Beyond, "You may be concerned about the viability of the pregnancy if you continue to breastfeed. In a normal, healthy pregnancy, with no previous history of miscarriage in the first 20 weeks or preterm labor after 20 weeks, there is no evidence to suggest breastfeeding is threatening to a pregnancy. If you do miscarry, it is unlikely to be because you are breastfeeding" (Warner).
Not Sure About Trying While Breastfeeding After A Loss
I will say breastfeeding itself does not cause miscarriages. However, breastfeeding can cause a short luteal phase, low progesterone levels, and thin uterine lining in some women that can influence whether a woman will successfully become pregnant or pregnant with a viable pregnancy. If you're miscarrying, there is probably a reason, and that reason can have an explanation, be unknown or even chalked up to bad luck.
Weaning may not be your answer. I don't say this to change your mind but suggest discussing and seek testing with your health care provider to see what is going on with your fertility before making any decisions about trying to conceive or weaning from breastfeeding. The losses you may end up discovering may have nothing to do with the factors I listed above that breastfeeding can cause. I will share with you a brief story about a breastfeeding mom who has been in a similar situation. Mom 1 from my Soy Isoflavones experience page has 2 babies she carried to full term, and 3 losses while breastfeeding. In her most recent loss, a missed miscarriage, she discovered the child she lost had trisomy 22. That is not related to a factor breastfeeding can cause.
Another factor to consider, depending on the mother, it may be sad to find out she weaned her nursing child when she didn't have to and it didn't solve the problem of why she experienced a loss or experiencing consecutive losses. I do know one mom who had a few losses while breastfeeding, after her recent loss, her breastfeeding relationship ended. She was very sad because she had suffered two losses in that particular situation, the loss of a potential new child and the loss of her breastfeeding relationship with a child she already has.
In 2015, I did a breastfeeding chart discussed in another post, Breastfeeding Chart: To Wean or Not To Wean, it showed the numbers of mothers who had become pregnant sometime after weaning, mothers who became pregnant while breastfeeding and mothers who had become pregnant while breastfeeding but had to wean in order to sustain a viable pregnancy. Out of 39 moms, 16 moms weaned and became pregnant sometime after, 21 moms became pregnant while breastfeeding and only 2 mothers became pregnant while breastfeeding but had to wean in order to sustain a viable pregnancy. That means 23 mothers became pregnant while breastfeeding and 21 were able to continue on breastfeeding throughout some point or their entire pregnancy.
In 2015, I did a breastfeeding chart discussed in another post, Breastfeeding Chart: To Wean or Not To Wean, it showed the numbers of mothers who had become pregnant sometime after weaning, mothers who became pregnant while breastfeeding and mothers who had become pregnant while breastfeeding but had to wean in order to sustain a viable pregnancy. Out of 39 moms, 16 moms weaned and became pregnant sometime after, 21 moms became pregnant while breastfeeding and only 2 mothers became pregnant while breastfeeding but had to wean in order to sustain a viable pregnancy. That means 23 mothers became pregnant while breastfeeding and 21 were able to continue on breastfeeding throughout some point or their entire pregnancy.
You might also be interested in:
- Can Breastfeeding During Pregnancy Lead To Miscarriages (Very Well Family)
- Sources -
1. "Blighted Ovum: Symptoms, Causes, and Prevention." American Pregnancy Association. American Pregnancy Association, 25 Apr. 2012. Web. 07 Feb. 2016. <http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-complications/blighted-ovum/>.2. "Breast-Feeding During Pregnancy: A Painful, Controversial Choice." Health.com. Health Media Ventures, Inc, 2015. Web. 01 Jan. 2016. <http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20412175_last,00.html>.
3. "Miscarriage: Signs, Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention." American Pregnancy Association Miscarriage Comments. American Pregnancy Association, 26 Apr. 2012. Web. 04 June 2015. <http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-complications/miscarriage/>.
4. Warner, Bronwyn, ABA Counsellor. "Breastfeeding through Pregnancy and beyond." Australian Breastfeeding Association. Australian Breastfeeding Association, 2015. Web. 01 Jan. 2016. <https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bf-info/breastfeeding-through-pregnancy-and-beyond>.
Last Edited: June 25, 2019
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