The medical definition of miscarriage is the spontaneous loss of a pregnancy before twenty-four weeks. Miscarriage is very common, occurring in ten to twenty per cent, of confirmed pregnancies. Most of those feature ....16... twelve weeks of pregnancy. The most common ....17... is vaginal bleeding, which can range from light spotting to heavier than a period. You may see blood clots, brown discharge or other tissues that are not....18.... identifiable. Sometimes a sac-like structure is seen. Often, there is cramping with pelvic or back pain. You may find that the usual symptoms of pregnancy, such as breast tenderness, feeling sick and having to pass urine more....19... than usual stop unexpectedly. Sometimes there are no signs or symptoms of miscarriage and pregnancy symptoms continue, and the miscarriage only ......20..... in a routine scan . About half all early miscarriages happen because of a problem in the way the genetic material from the egg and sperm have combined during......21.... it can be difficult to find out why this has ....22...., but it is more likely to be due to random chance than to any underlying problem with either parent. Imbalances in pregnancy hormones, problems in the immune...23....,and some serious infections are also thought to make miscarriages more likely. The risk of miscarriage......24..... with age because the quality of eggs deteriorates . If a woman drinks too much alcohol or smokes heavily, the risk of miscarriage is higher. It is also increased with ....25... pregnancies such as twins.

Adapted from Saturday punch, 13 October 2007