Overview
The medical definition of a pregnancy loss depends upon the gestational age of the pregnancy at the time the loss occurred. A miscarriage is defined as the spontaneous loss of a fetus before the 20th week pregnancy. “Among women who know they are pregnant, about 10% to 25% will have a miscarriage.” A loss occurring after the 20th week of pregnancy is labeled a stillbirth. National Institutes of Health/U.S. National Library of Medicine. “Miscarriage.” MedlinePlus, https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001488.htm. A stillbirth is also referred to as fetal death or intrauterine fetal demise. A late stillbirth occurs after 28 weeks. Weigel, Gabriela et al. “Understanding Pregnancy Loss in the Context of Abortion Restrictions and Fetal Harm Laws.” KFF, Women’s Health Policy, 4 December 2019, https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/understanding-pregnancy-loss-in-the-context-of-abortion-restrictions-and-fetal-harm-laws/.
Additional Information
ACOG
https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/early-pregnancy-loss
New KFF National Survey of OBGYNs Finds Dobbs Decision Has Made It Harder to Treat Miscarriages and Other Pregnancy-Related Emergencies in Affected States; In States with Bans, Half Report Patients Who Were Unable to Obtain an Abortion They Sought
Miscarriage
https://www.marchofdimes.org/find-support/topics/miscarriage-loss-grief/miscarriage#:~:text=For%20women%20who%20know%20they,12th%20week%20of%20pregnancy
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532992/
Why we need to talk about losing a baby
https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/why-we-need-to-talk-about-losing-a-baby
Early Pregnancy Loss
https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/practice-bulletin/articles/2018/11/early-pregnancy-loss
Depression and Anxiety Following Early Pregnancy Loss: Recommendations for Primary Care Providers
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4468887/
Losing a pregnancy could land you in jail in post-Roe America
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/03/1109015302/abortion-prosecuting-pregnancy-loss#:~:text=At%20least%2038%20states%20have,crimes%20against%20a%20pregnant%20person.
National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). “Pregnancy loss leads to post-traumatic stress in one in three women.” Mental Health, 9 February 2021, https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/alert/pregnancy-loss-post-traumatic-stress/
Farren, Jessica et al. “Posttraumatic stress, anxiety and depression following miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study.” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Volume 222, Issue 4, 1 April 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2019.10.102
Slome Cohain, Judy, Buxbaum, Rina E., Mankuta, David. “Spontaneous first trimester miscarriage rates per woman among parous women with 1 or more pregnancies of 24 weeks or more.” BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-017-1620-1
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), Early Pregnancy Loss, FAQs, February 2015, https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/early-pregnancy-loss.
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), Opposition to Criminalization of Individuals During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period, Statement of Policy, December 2020, https://www.acog.org/clinical-information/policy-and-position-statements/statements-of-policy/2020/opposition-criminalization-of-individuals-pregnancy-and-postpartum-period.
France, Hannah. 2022. “Doctors say methamphetamine use does not cause miscarriages.” KGOU. https://www.kgou.org/health/2022-01-26/doctors-say-methamphetamine-use-does-not-cause-miscarriages.