“Does conceiving after a miscarriage have any risks?”

She can try 3 months post-miscarrage.

Can try again now

She can try now

6 months is more than enough to wait. You should get started & try for another pregnancy soon.

I usually recommend at least three cycles before trying to conceive again and that is a common standard among OBs There is not any data to support a specific time to wait of which I am aware. If this was her first miscarriage, I think it is fine to start trying. She should be taking a prenatal vitamin with folic acid to reduce the risk of birth defects. If she has had more than one miscarriage or there are any genetic diseases in either her or your families, it is advisable for her to have a preconception counseling appointment with her OB to see if any screening tests would be helpful or indicated. The ability to screen for genetic conditions has increased considerably in recent years. You can find more information at the ACOG FAQ site on prenatal genetic screening if you are interested.

Usually, I would have patients wait for 1-2 cycles following a loss and then try again. In your case, it has been 6 months, so I would say move forward.

1) Try to find out why she lost the pregnancy
2) Discuss those issues with your ob/gyn
3) It is okay to try for a pregnancy now if all issues were discussed.

Good luck.

Miscarriage at 4months pregnant is less common that a miscarriage during the 1st 3months. If there was a documented pregnancy with a fetus and a fetal heart beat that grew in utero to >12wks, then genetic testing on the fetal products should have been performed. In addition, there is an increased risk of a blood clotting disorder that can be the reason for miscarriage and could lead to future miscarriage if not properly diagnosed. Many times, blood clotting disorder is not recommended until recurrent miscarriage x 3 occurs but this is usually referring to 1st trimester miscarriage.

Blood clotting disorder work-up includes Factor V Leiden, Antiphospholipid antibody, Anticardiolipin antibody, Protime, Prothrombin time, Methyltetrohydrate Folate Reductase deficiency (MTHFR deficiency), Factor VIII and CBC for platelet count. This testing can be very expensive so be certain that your healthcare provider checks with your insurance regarding correct ICD-10 coding as ‘recurrent miscarriage’ which means 3 miscarriage in a row during 1st 12 weeks or a 2nd trimester miscarriage. If any of this testing above is positive, it may mean that the mom needs to be given treatment to prevent blood clotting throughout the pregnancy; this may mean shots of blood thinner injected subcutaneously or into the abdominal skin daily. In addition, a lesser known cause of recurrent miscarriage which can occur in the 1st or 2nd trimester is a low Progesterone level which leads to a poor uterine lining that is not healthy enough to support continued growth of the fetus. Progesterone can be easily tested by blood test, is relatively inexpensive and is pharmaceutically available as a vaginal gel or as an oral pill. Progesterone is also prescribed in preterm labor to help stop preterm labor.

For those couples who need to seek this level of counselling and healthcare help, seek a high risk obstetrician who will do the work-up with you ahead of time so that when pregnancy does occur, you have many of your health concerns already addressed; finding out at the beginning of a pregnancy that there is a potential concern is not the time to find out this type of information.

She needs to be evaluated for the cause of the miscarriage before trying to conceive again.