Miscarriage epidemiology and demographics

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

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Determining the prevalence of miscarriage is difficult. Many miscarriages happen very early in the pregnancy, before a woman may know she is pregnant. Treatment of women with miscarriage at home means medical statistics on miscarriage miss many cases.^[1] Prospective studies using very sensitive early pregnancy tests have found that 25% of pregnancies are miscarried by the sixth week LMP (since the woman's Last Menstrual Period).^[2][3] The risk of miscarriage decreases sharply after the 8th week, i.e. when the fetal stage begins.^[4]Clinical miscarriages (those occurring after the sixth week LMP) occur in 8% of pregnancies.^[3]

The prevalence of miscarriage increases considerably with age of the parents. Pregnancies from men younger than twenty-five years are 40% less likely to end in miscarriage than pregnancies from men 25-29 years. Pregnancies from men older than forty years are 60% more likely to end in miscarriage than the 25-29 year age group.^[5] The increased risk of miscarriage in pregnancies from older men is mainly seen in the first trimester.^[6] In women, by the age of forty-five, 75% of pregnancies may end in miscarriage.^[7]

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