Chorevia

Day 60 of 280 · 8 weeks + 4 days

The honest page

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 7 sources · Plain-text version

The one page in this series about miscarriage: what the numbers say, what bleeding does and doesn't mean, and the card for the fridge.

Size this week
about the size of a raspberry
Length this week
around 16 mm from head to bottom
A woman with grey-streaked hair and a man side by side on a sofa, her feet tucked under her, his arm around her, an index card and a pen on the coffee table, soft afternoon light.

Eight weeks and four days. This is the only page in the series that names miscarriage. It's here once, with the numbers and the call line, so you don't have to carry the question every other day.

Your baby

A single ripe raspberry on a plain pale wooden table, close up, soft window light.

Around 16mm, about the size of a raspberry, with the head starting to uncurl and the arms getting longer and bigger than the legs (NHS). By next week, the NHS says, they will be twice the size (NHS).

Your body

Miscarriage is pregnancy loss from natural causes before 20 weeks, and the Office on Women's Health's figure is that as many as 20 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage (OWH). Which also means most do not.

Bleeding is more common than loss: up to 1 in 4 women have vaginal bleeding at some point in pregnancy, most often in the first 3 months (MedlinePlus). The NICHD's line is that vaginal bleeding does not necessarily mean a miscarriage, and that anyone with it, at any point in pregnancy, should contact their provider (NICHD). The difference between spotting and bleeding is simple: spotting is a few drops, not enough to cover a panty liner; bleeding is heavier and needs a liner or pad (MedlinePlus). Almost all women who miscarry have bleeding first (MedlinePlus), which is why the call line below exists. One comfort: mild morning sickness does not harm the baby and may be linked to a lower risk of miscarriage (MedlinePlus).

Try today

  1. The call-line card

    Time: 10 minutes

    1. Write your provider's daytime number and the after-hours number. If you don't have the second, call the office and ask.

    2. Write the nearest emergency room and how you'd get there. MedlinePlus's rule: if you cannot reach your provider, go to the emergency room (MedlinePlus).

    3. Add the signs that mean go now: heavy bleeding, bleeding with pain or cramping, dizziness with bleeding, belly or pelvic pain (MedlinePlus).

    4. Put one card on the fridge and a copy in both phones.

    Make it work:

    Add the name of the person who would drive. Then put the card away; it's for a day that most likely won't come.

Watch for

  • Normal

    light spotting, which is on the NHS's list of ordinary symptoms this week (NHS).

    Call your provider right away

    for heavy bleeding; if you can't reach yours, go to the emergency room (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    light cramping on its own (NHS).

    Call your provider right away

    for bleeding with pain or cramping (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    bleeding that turns out to be nothing; it does not necessarily mean a miscarriage (NICHD).

    Call your provider right away

    for dizziness with bleeding (MedlinePlus), and if bleeding and cramping are severe, drink only fluids on the way (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    not yet knowing your blood type.

    Call your provider

    about any bleeding once you know you're Rh-negative, because you may need Rho(D) immune globulin (MedlinePlus).

For you

If this is the page you've been dreading, read it once and put it down. The card is on the fridge so the fear doesn't have to be in your head.

If a loss does happen, help doesn't stop at the clinic. The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline, 1-833-TLC-MAMA, is free and confidential, staffed by trained counselors 24 hours a day in English, Spanish and more than 60 other languages, for before, during and after pregnancy (NICHD).

If you're the partner: the card is yours too. You'd be the one driving, and the one talking to the desk. Read it once today, then go back to the raspberry.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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