Research news on conceiving after miscarriage

Research published in today's British Medical Journal has found that getting pregnant within six months of having a miscarriage actually carries a lower risk of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or other pregnancy complications than if you wait longer.

That's good news if you want to try again soon after miscarriage and if there are no medical reasons why you shouldn't. (Medical reasons for delay include:
- if you had an infection that needs treating
- if you had treatment with methatrexate after ectopic pregnancy
- if you are in follow-up after a molar pregnancy.)

It's perhaps less reassuring news for women who feel they need longer to recover, emotionally or physically, before trying again. You don't want to feel rushed into trying before you're ready. For you, it's important to remember that this is all about relative risk - you're still more likely to have a healthy pregnancy next time in most cases.

It's also possibly worrying news for women who might try soon after miscarriage but it takes them longer to conceive. But again, this is a question of relative risk, as well as considering other factors, such as age. Unfortunately we already know that women in their late 30s and 40s and those with fertility problems have a higher risk of miscarriage.

The research doesn't consider these women separately, so it may well be that the findings about waiting longer to conceive are not quite as clear as they seem.

If you want to read the full published article, you will find it at http://www.bmj.com/cgi/doi/10.1136/bmj.c3967 . The link to the editorial comment on it is http://www.bmj.com/cgi/doi/10.1136/bmj.c4181