Natural Abortion: Causes, Symptoms, and Types

What is a Natural Abortion?

A natural abortion, also known as a miscarriage or spontaneous abortion, is the spontaneous death of an embryo or fetus before it is developed enough to survive. This can occur even before a woman knows she is pregnant.

Most miscarriages occur during the first three months of pregnancy, before the twelfth week of gestation. A small number of natural abortions – less than 1% – are stillbirths, occurring after the twentieth week of pregnancy.

Symptoms of Abortion

Many women never even know they have had a miscarriage and interpret it as a particularly heavy menstruation.

Some women experience abdominal cramps, blood spotting, heavy bleeding, abdominal pain and/or pelvic pain, weakness, or back pain. A small amount of bleeding is not always a sign of miscarriage, as many women experience bleeding in early pregnancy. However, if you experience bleeding or any other concerning symptoms during pregnancy, consult your doctor.

If you consult your doctor due to concerns about a possible miscarriage, they may use one of the following terms to explain the situation:

• Threatened Abortion: If a pregnant woman has bleeding with little or no pain, the cervix remains closed, and a fetal heartbeat is detected in the womb, it is likely a threatened abortion. Most pregnancies with early bleeding and a detectable fetal heartbeat progress without issue.
• Anembryonic Pregnancy: This refers to a miscarriage that occurs so early in the pregnancy that fetal tissues have not yet formed.
• Inevitable Abortion: This occurs when there is vaginal bleeding along with abdominal cramps and dilation of the cervix.
• Incomplete Abortion: This is when fetal death occurs, but the body has not completely expelled all products of pregnancy.
• Missed Abortion: This is when fetal death occurs, but the body retains the fetus, placenta, and other products of pregnancy for several weeks. This can occur when the woman experiences neither menstrual periods nor signs of pregnancy.
• Recurrent Abortion: This refers to when a woman experiences three or more consecutive miscarriages.