Chromosome Abnormalities

[bellalegosa]

Hello - I was wondering if anyone can help me. I am very lucky to have a beautiful 3 year old daughter. I have had 3 miscarriages since August last year...both last year were about 6-7 weeks and I passed them naturally - however my last miscarriage in July this year ended in a D&C at around 9 weeks. I have had results back and the baby had abnormalities - I am now being investigated by the NHS - I am hoping it won't take too long.
Has anyone else been through this and can help or shed any light into what tests they run and if you have been through this have you had a success? Thank you...I'm feeling very confused by it all - it's like a minefield! xx

[IonaMumsnet]

Hi there OP,
Sorry to hear of your miscarriages. We hope you don't mind but we're going to move this thread to Miscarriage and Pregnancy Loss where we think you will get more support and advice.
All the best, MNHQ

[Attheendof]

Hi there. Sorry for your losses. It is good you are now going for some tests. When it happened to me I had karotyping done (this looks at both you and your partner's blood to see if there are any genetic issues) and the tested for sticky blood and also (trying to remember!) thyroid and anti nuclear antibodies.
I had a ds, then 4 mc - only had one tested but there was a trisomy found. All the tests came back clear, I suspected auto immune issues and had natural killer cells tested privately.

[Attheendof]

Sorry, hadn't finished! I conceived on treatment for this and had my second child. I found Lesley Regan's book "Miscarriage what every woman needs to know" very helpful. Have a look at the other threads in this section - there is one about the testing process I'm sure.
Best of luck.

[MockingJayBird]

Yes, Atthe is right - they will test both you and your partner for chromosomal problems, your progesterone levels, possibly clotting factors, and they will most likely do a scan to check your ovaries and uterus. All in all, it took about 6 weeks after the last test, before we got the appointment to discuss the results.

However, in most cases, they do not find anything. I've now had 4 mcs, 2 of which were tested, and both were due to chromosomal abnormalities (trisomy 2 and 18) of the baby. DH and I are both fine - apart from our age!. It's the most common cause of miscarriage, and there is nothing that can be done about this.
So no success for me from the testing - other than knowing that nothing is wrong with either me or DH (should be a good thing, really...). And the hope that we might get lucky next time...

They might recommend that you take progesterone, should you become pg again, but this is the standard first line of treatment, people are not entirely sure if it really makes a difference. If any clotting issues are found, you will get heparin.

Sorry I can't shed more light - Lesley Regan's book is very informative, definitely worth reading.

[bellalegosa]

Thank you so much for your replies this really helps me out. I'm hopefully having these tests done soon and if they come back all clear then I'm considering having tests on my NK cells - Dr Shehata's clinic. Fingers crossed we can find out and get to the bottom of it....xx

[Attheendof]

I have a Shehata baby - depends if you've any reason to suspect auto-immune stuff (I have under-active thyroid since dc1) for some people blood thinners seem to work, depends what the issue is. And of course egg quality involves too. It's a long road but there is hope.

[bakingtins]

bella I'm so sorry for your losses. There is a thread on this board for recurrent miscarriage support (just started thread11) on which you'd be very welcome, and on the conception board there is a thread called "TTC or pregnant on pred" for NK cell issues with a lot of patients of Prof Quenby/Brosens in Coventry or Drs Shehata/Gorgy in London.
I had 4 miscarriages, last one tested as genetically normal, NHS tests normal, diagnosed as high NK cells by Prof Q and had my daughter on treatment in May.
Do join a thread, it is really helpful to chat to others who have been or are going through the testing. You start to feel like a freak if you don't know others with multiple losses.