Why it’s not the woman’s fault
About 15% to 25% of all clinically recognized pregnancies result in pregnancy loss. Some miscarriages occur before a woman is aware, thus accounting for the wide variation in the incidence of pregnancy loss.
About 80% of all pregnancy losses occur within the first trimester and are often caused by having missing or extra chromosomes, called aneuploidy. Sporadic errors during chromosomal division and duplication cause aneuploidy. Many of the abnormal chromosomes are incompatible with life and result in miscarriage. These genetic errors are considered sporadic because they’re due to chance and weren’t passed down as an inheritable trait from the parents.
When an extra chromosome occurs, the result is called trisomy. The most common chromosomal abnormality found in first trimester loss is trisomy 16. The term trisomy 16 indicates that there are three copies of chromosome 16, instead of the normal two copies of the chromosome. This almost always results in pregnancy loss.
About 5% of women will experience two consecutive pregnancy losses, and 1% will experience three or more consecutive pregnancy losses. Consecutive pregnancy loss is known as recurrent pregnancy loss. Women who experience this should discuss it with their obstetrician/gynecologist and schedule a clinical workup.