Written by: Dr. Amy Beckley, PhD, Founder and Inventor of the Proov test — the first and only FDA-cleared test to confirm successful ovulation at home.
**Trigger warning: This blog discusses miscarriage and early pregnancy loss.
When my husband and I were trying to get pregnant, we unfortunately suffered 7 miscarriages in the process. We are so grateful to now have 2 beautiful, healthy children, but my heart still aches for the 7 babies I lost.
Here at Proov, we are not strangers to the tragedy of miscarriage; many other members of our team have also sadly suffered losses. Our goal is to support you throughout your entire trying to conceive journey — the ups, downs, and everything in between.
After suffering a loss, it can be difficult to know what to do next or when you can start trying again. In today’s blog, we’ll cover everything you need to know about getting pregnant after a miscarriage.
In today's blog, we'll cover everything you need to know about getting pregnant after a miscarriage.
How to Prepare for Pregnancy after a Miscarriage
While a loss in itself is already hard, a miscarriage can also rob women of the joy of getting pregnant and future pregnancies. If this happens to you, remind yourself you’re not alone.
We know that after a loss, it can be hard to not fear the worst for following pregnancies. It can be harder to be happy and excited, and can also be hard to not panic at every twinge, every pain, every pregnancy symptom that comes and goes.
I asked one of our team members, Oana, who suffered several miscarriages herself, to share what helped her prepare for getting pregnant after a miscarriage:
“What helped me most – and this is something I have noticed in our Facebook support group too – was being proactive. Instead of waiting and seeing what happens, I decided to do something about it: I made sure my hormones were supported, my health was as good as it could be, I was taking all my supplements, and taking care of my mental health too.
‘Stress less and it’s gonna happen,’ is of course easier said than done. Trying to get pregnant – especially after a miscarriage – is far from a walk in the park. But I found that trying to minimize stress in any way I could – be it listening to my favorite music, reading, walking, exercising, meditating – helped me get in a better shape and mood.”
How soon after a miscarriage can I try again?
Technically, you can get pregnant after a miscarriage as soon as you ovulate. The amount of time this takes can vary from woman to woman, as some may need longer for their hormones to return to baseline and for ovulation to occur.
It’s not uncommon to have a few anovulatory cycles (a cycle in which ovulation does not occur) or irregular periods after a miscarriage as your body finds its normal hormonal balance. That said, some people claim a woman is more fertile after a miscarriage, although there isn’t any scientific evidence to back this up.
But it’s important to remember that a miscarriage – however early it may have occurred – is a traumatizing event. Give yourself time to grieve, and to heal both physically and mentally before you start trying again.
Your cycle and hormones should get back on track naturally, but if you notice anything out of the ordinary, please reach out to your doctor.
Your cycle and hormones should get back on track naturally.
What should I do if I experience recurrent miscarriages?
Tragically, 10-15% of pregnancies will end in miscarriage. While we would love to be able to prevent every woman from experiencing a miscarriage, we know that many causes of miscarriage are not preventable, such as chromosomal abnormalities.
After you suffer a miscarriage, we recommend following up with your doctor to see if you can get to the root cause of the miscarriage. Ideally, you’d want testing following a miscarriage to see the cause and understand the chances of it happening again.
While many miscarriages cannot be prevented, there are some causes you can be proactive about. If your miscarriage occurred too early for testing, your doctor may suggest checking your thyroid, hormone tests, or checking for underlying infections.
If, like me, you experience recurrent miscarriages (especially in a row), there may be an underlying issue causing them, in which case we absolutely recommend following up with your doctor.
In my case, my miscarriages were caused by a problem with ovulation, specifically that I wasn’t producing enough progesterone after ovulation. This is also sometimes referred to as a luteal phase defect.
A problem with ovulation is sometimes referred to as a luteal phase defect.
Progesterone is the hormone produced by the ovaries after ovulation that prepares the uterus for implantation of a newly formed embryo. Essentially, progesterone makes the lining of the uterus “sticky” enough so that an embryo can attach and grow into a healthy pregnancy.
Without enough progesterone for long enough after ovulation (specifically during the implantation window), it can be more difficult to get and stay pregnant. In fact, some studies show that 75% of recurrent early miscarriages are due to implantation failure cause my low progesterone.
While low progesterone is not the cause of all recurrent miscarriages, it can be an important hormone to get checked, whether that be via a blood test from your doctor, or an at-home PdG (progesterone marker) test.
No matter the cause, circumstance, or how far along you were, miscarriages are always tragic, and we are always here to provide support how we can. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@proovtest.com or join our private Facebook support group.
