babyfruit: the (mis)adventures of mommyhood

Miscarriage In the News

I haven't posted miscarriage news for a while so here are some headlines I've come across recently...

New Studies, Tests, Hope

Study offers hope for women who miscarry
SYDNEY, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Australian doctors confirm that women who miscarry have a significantly reduced level of a protein found in the placenta.

Is this the end for miscarriage heartbreak?
Thousands of women could be spared the heartbreak of miscarriage after a major medical breakthrough.
They could be offered a simple test to see if they are producing enough of a protein which has been linked to development of the placenta.

Protein link gives hope of averting miscarriage
Doctors have confirmed that women who miscarry have a significantly reduced level of a protein found in the placenta, raising hopes of treatment for women who miscarry repeatedly.

Screening for Abnormal Embryos Offers Couples Hope After Heartbreak
After enduring six miscarriages and undergoing six artificial inseminations and two in vitro fertilizations, Kelly Santos, at the age of 35, was dealt the final blow.
"My doctor told me that I would never have a biological child," said Ms. Santos, who lives in Gillette, N.J. The diagnosis was a chromosomal translocation, a mix-up in the arrangement of a few genetic pieces that leads to a high proportion of abnormal embryos and a 90 percent rate of miscarriage.

Contraception & Family Planning | New York Times Examines Debate Over Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis
The New York Times on Tuesday examined the debate over preimplantation genetic diagnosis, a technique that allows doctors to identify embryos without genetic defects or chromosomal abnormalities and then implant the embryos most likely to result in a live, healthy infant. PGD is an "increasingly popular way to ensure a healthy pregnancy" for women who have experienced several miscarriages or who are undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment, or for couples who are carriers of a genetic disorder, according to the Times. However, some experts "urge caution" when considering PGD because of a lack of data on the procedure's success and failure rates and long-term health risks for the resulting child, the Times reports.

Study touts early Down syndrome test
Bulletin for mothers-to-be: A new study of nearly 40,000 pregnant women found that the best time to screen a fetus for Down syndrome is at 11 weeks into a pregnancy, rather than in the second trimester.
For well over a decade, the official standard of care has been to perform the blood tests to screen for a possible chromosomal problem at about 15 or 16 weeks into a pregnancy. But in the past several years, Boston's major hospitals and other centers with advanced obstetric care have been offering earlier screens, combined with an early ultrasound scan that can also catch signs of trouble.

Warning, Warning

New miscarriage warning over smoking
Women whose partners smoke heavily are at a greater risk of having a miscarriage, scientists have warned.
A study found that nearly a third of women whose partners smoked more than 20 cigarettes a day lost their babies within six weeks of conceiving, compared to one fifth whose partners did not smoke.

Stress really can cause miscarriages
Stress really can cause miscarriages despite most doctors dismissing the idea as a myth, according to a study.
Although the cause of the majority of miscarriages is never established, they are usually attributed to foetal abnormalities or health problems in the mother.
Obstetricians generally do not accept that healthy women can lose healthy babies solely because of stress.

And from TIME magazine:
DANISH, NO COFFEE A survey of 88,482 Danish women, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that pregnant women who drank eight or more cups of coffee a day had a risk of stillbirth and miscarriage 59% higher than those who drank none.

Hopeful Story

Baby joy for fertility expert
A woman who has dedicated her life to helping couples have children proudly shows off her own wonder baby after undergoing treatment to make her "allergic" to her husband.
Embryologist Kathryn Berrisford suffered four miscarriages before her boss at Nottingham's CARE fertility clinic recommended immune therapy to help her become a mother.

Freaky Story

TRIPLET THAT SURVIVED A MISCARRIAGE
TINY triplet Janaya Barret survived hidden in the womb after mum Gemma miscarried her other two babies.

Politics of Miscarriage
Facing The Reality Of Choice
I wasn't carrying life, only death, something called a blighted ovum, when I walked into Planned Parenthood. I was 40, the mother of one child; another one was a possibility, but not with this pregnancy.

Articles: Miscarriage in the News

I'm being productive after neglecting Babyfruit and miscarriage blogging for a few days. Here are some recent articles about miscarriage.

PGD May Ease Miscarriage Risk After IVF in Older Patients - Women over age 35 who've experienced repeat miscarriage may be able to ease their risk of having another pregnancy loss following in vitro fertilization (IVF) by having their embryos tested for genetic abnormalities before they're transferred to begin a pregnancy. That's the conclusion of a group of reproductive endocrinologists and geneticists who studied the value of using a procedure known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, before embryo transfer. Their study is published in the August issue of the journal Fertility and Sterility. [READ MORE...] My comments: Damn, what, more tests!?

Docs Question Tap Water's Link to Miscarriage - At odds with other research, a new study is suggesting that drinking tap water poses only a slight risk of having a miscarriage, if at all.1 The study was sponsored by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) Research Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). [READ MORE...] My comments: Yet another thing to worry about.

Pregnant women 'starved of information - A survey of 1,500 women for National Pregnancy Week found that more than eight out of 10 (84%) women said their GP did not give them enough information in the first three months of pregnancy. According to 66% of women surveyed, fear of problems with the baby and worries about miscarrying make this the most stressful part of pregnancy. [READ MORE...] My comments: Why does the UK come out with more studies and information and publish more articles about miscarriage than the US?

Lack of iodine linked to poor births - Mothers are being warned they could miscarry or have babies born with low intelligence due to a lack of iodine, an element vital for growth and brain development in unborn and newborn babies. [READ MORE...] My comments: Why does Australia come out with more studies and information and publish more articles about miscarriage than the US?

Baby joy after seven IVF treatments - A 50-year-old woman who suffered seven miscarriages and two ovarian tumours has finally given birth to a baby boy. Val Backhouse, from Pontefract, West Yorkshire, gave birth to Alex Reece after spending £21,000 on seven IVF courses. [READ MORE...] My comments: Hmmm...does this give me hope or freak me out? Can't decide.

Dozens of women seek information on found fetuses - ozens of women who had abortions or miscarried at a Pittsburgh hospital have contacted the Allegheny County Coroner's Office to see whether their fetuses were among 300 discovered in a residential garage last week. [READ MORE...] My comments: Okay, this definitely freaks me out.

Music Helps Women Find Healing after Miscarriages - For weeks after her first miscarriage, the only notes that could escape the throat of liturgical music minister Monica Perz-Waddington belonged to the traditional Quaker tune "How Can I Keep from Singing?" Calling this effort "somewhat of a lament and an affirmation at the same time," Perz-Waddington used this song to surface from underneath her "rock" of depression. [READ MORE...] My comments: Must follow freaky article with a positive one.

it is about frickin' time

New on Forbes.com...

Medical Option Now Available After Miscarriage

By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Until recently, if a woman had a miscarriage early in her pregnancy, doctors often had to perform surgery to remove any remaining fetal tissue.

But according to new study findings, the medication misoprostol also may be an option after pregnancy loss.

The researchers found that misoprostol was effective in expelling fetal tissue in 84 percent of the women studied.

"Basically, our study was a comparison of medical management versus surgical management for early pregnancy failure," said the study's lead author, Dr. Jun Zhang, an investigator at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

[READ MORE]

Comments from the Peanut Gallery

When I was going to miscarry for the 2nd time, I asked my OBGYN for some kind of drug that I had read about that could help induce labor and allow me to miscarry naturally. He said he had heard about something like that but hadn't tried it before and was not very encouraging.

So instead of a D&C, I opted for reflexology and acupuncture. For my 3rd miscarriage, I added Chinese herbs. For my 4th, I threw some Reiki in the mix. I have not had to have a D&C for any of my miscarriages.

Ultimately, I prefer the all natural route to miscarrying than taking a pill. But anything is better than uterus scraping. Our bodies know what to do. We've been doing this for centuries. We are women, hear us roar!

Chez Miscarriage: Maternity Leave

Link: Chez Miscarriage: Maternity Leave.

Hmmm...Bec pointed out that Chez of Chez Miscarriage took away her archives. Now I do take issue with that. It is one thing stopping your blog, but the beauty of the blogosphere is that the archives - which those by Chez have proven to be well-read and valuable - can remain forever.

She points out that she began blogging anonymously and maintained her anonymity. There is no harm done, no risk of exposure keeping up her archives for the good of miscarrying women and the people who love them.

Rethinking her miscarriage blog or reconfiguring it - that makes sense. But blogs are cheap and easy. She can create an entirely new one if she wishes. But to remove her archives - that is like burning a library of important reference, that is like carving out a heart that still beats for many of us.

I'm unhappy about that decision. Very unhappy indeed.

Chez Miscarriage Taking Leave

Ah, say it isn't so. But, alas, it is.

Chez Miscarriage has left the blogosphere.

I read about it on Blogging Baby.

She set the standard for miscarriage blogging while remaining everywoman, or at least everyinfertilewoman.

Chez Miscarriage, we wish you well!

Brooke Shields/Tom Cruise: War of Words

While this is not really about miscarriage, it is about postpartum depression, something I went through after my 3rd miscarriage although not to the extent that Brooke Shields and other women have.

In case the New York Times password protects the article in archives, you can always email me at mediaegg @ hotmail.com to get a copy of the full article (or register for free at NYTimes.com).

Below is an excerpt...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/01/opinion/01shields.html

Op-Ed Contributor

War of Words

By BROOKE SHIELDS
Published: July 1, 2005

London

I WAS hoping it wouldn't come to this, but after Tom Cruise's interview with Matt Lauer on the NBC show "Today" last week, I feel compelled to speak not just for myself but also for the hundreds of thousands of women who have suffered from postpartum depression. While Mr. Cruise says that Mr. Lauer and I do not "understand the history of psychiatry," I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression.

Postpartum depression is caused by the hormonal shifts that occur after childbirth. During pregnancy, a woman's level of estrogen and progesterone greatly increases; then, in the first 24 hours after childbirth, the amount of these hormones rapidly drops to normal, nonpregnant levels. This change in hormone levels can lead to reactions that range from restlessness and irritability to feelings of sadness and hopelessness.

I never thought I would have postpartum depression. After two years of trying to conceive and several attempts at in vitro fertilization, I thought I would be overjoyed when my daughter, Rowan Francis, was born in the spring of 2003. But instead I felt completely overwhelmed. This baby was a stranger to me. I didn't know what to do with her. I didn't feel at all joyful. I attributed feelings of doom to simple fatigue and figured that they would eventually go away. But they didn't; in fact, they got worse. [READ MORE...]

miscarriage in the news

and we think our miscarrying lives suck...

Mother's screams after opening plastic bag containing her miscarried foetus
(Filed: 20/04/2005)

A couple who suffered a miscarriage in hospital spoke yesterday of their horror at being accidentally handed the foetus in a plastic bag.

The 22-year-old woman, who asked not to be named, did not realise that she was eight weeks' pregnant when she began to miscarry and was taken to hospital. [read more...]

Woman describes 'miscarriage' ordeal
27 April 2005 18:00
 
A woman has described her mental torture after claiming she was told the baby she was carrying was dead. Two days later a scan showed that the unborn child was in fact alive. Glasgow Royal Infirmary have issued an apology to Nicola Leary but say there are serious inaccuracies in her story. Nicola says she stands by her account of what happened and is taking legal action for damages. [read more...]

'Baby is dead' story denied by hospital
28 April 2005
CRAIG BROWN

AN NHS board yesterday denied telling a pregnant woman her baby was dead - two days before a scan showed that the unborn child was alive. [read more...]

RIGHT TO LIFE ACT - S.C. hounds women but doesn't help
May 2, 2005
SUE VEER LETITIA JOHNSON

With the so-called Right to Life Act, the S.C. General Assembly is sending a clear message that women, particularly pregnant women, should not expect consideration from the majority of the state's leaders.

This bill, already passed in the House and soon to be considered in the Senate, establishes that the right to due process and equal protection of the law vests at fertilization. Supporters have made clear that its purpose is to lay the groundwork for outlawing abortion. [read more...]

Doctors Are Warned on Fetus Care
Guidelines Are Issued on Born-Alive Infants Protection Act
By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 23, 2005; Page A07

The Bush administration issued guidelines yesterday advising physicians and hospitals that under a 2002 law they are obligated to care for fetuses "born alive" naturally or in the process of an abortion, and medical providers could face penalties for withholding treatment. [read more...]

the last paragraph in this article caught my eye:

The most significant impact of the 2002 law, Grimes said, was a record-keeping change. Previously, a miscarriage before viability was classified as a spontaneous abortion. Under the new provision, it is recorded as a live birth followed by a neonatal death, and parents can claim the child as a tax deduction for that year, he said.

say what??? did anyone else know about this?

News: Dealing with dashed expectations

Dealing with dashed expectations
Contra Costa Times - CA,USA
... The couple was stunned and inconsolable. "Miscarriage had never entered my mind," Ben Mendoza said. ... The miscarriage was not in their plans. ...

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/11265304.htm

Does require a password (free account) or email
me for the text.

News: Miscarriage seen as hardest life event for both sexes

Miscarriage seen as hardest life event for both sexes

A miscarriage is the life event that professionals of both sexes find hardest to cope with, according to a survey.

Short article but interesting that workers are being surveyed on the topic of miscarriage.

News: Miscarriage made me fat

ALLEY: 'MISCARRIAGE MADE ME FAT'

Former CHEERS star KIRSTIE ALLEY has confessed her huge weight gain started after she miscarried her only pregnancy.

Could I make this up?