Miscarriage is defined as losing the baby within the first six months of pregnancy, although the majority happen within the first three months.
Suffering a miscarriage is a crushing experience, and can leave you with the awkward feeling of mourning something that barely was: you don’t know what you lost, so getting a handle on the grief is difficult. Don’t feel guilty about what you may or may not have done to bring it on, and remeber, it's not your partner's fault. Miscarriages usually occur because of a problem with the baby’s development and it’s highly unlikely that anything you could have done would have made any difference.
When prospective parents suffer a miscarriage, they often focus on conceiving again. You may feel guilty for trying to move on and have another baby, but if you’ve decided that now is the right time for you to start a family, there’s nothing wrong with keeping on trying – it’s all to the benefit of any child you do manage to have.
Couples who suffer a miscarriage often worry that it means they are less likely to be able to conceive again, but there’s no cause for concern about this after one miscarriage. Sadly they are fairly common – about one in six pregnancies ends in miscarriage – and most women who suffer one do manage to carry a baby to term later.