How often do pregnancies end up in miscarriage without the woman knowing?

[curiouscat]

For example: A woman is pregnant and doesn't know it, but has what she thinks is a period, but is actually a miscarriage. How common is that? Thanks in advance!

 

[M Kerr RN LD]

Chemical pregnancies are much more common than you might think. In fact, between 50% and 60% of all first-time pregnancies are thought to end in miscarriage – a large majority of which can be attributed to chemical pregnancies. The difference between a chemical pregnancy and most other forms of miscarriage is that many women don’t even realize that they have experienced one. This is because the vast majority of chemical pregnancies occur within the initial six weeks of pregnancy, when most typical pregnancy symptoms are not yet present, meaning that women is unlikely to take a pregnancy test.

 

[tia b]

it is very common some people just think their having a really heavy period

 

[drip]

Well if a women doesn't know she is pregnant and has a very early miscarriage and doesn't know it-how would there be any statistics on it? The women wouldn't know, the doctor wouldn't know so there would be no data.

 

[pregnantwith1]

This is to Drip: People do studies on these things all the time. They do fertility studies and such on these things all the time. That's where they come up with the statistics on it. In fact there is one going on here in Texas and one in Michigan called the LIFE study. To answer the question asked, it is very common. It's called chemical pregnancy and happens usually before you even miss your period, and the bleeding that can come with the miscarriage is often misinterpreted as just a period coming on.