Written by Dr. Sanjana V.B Bhms,dbrm,cdn

Founder & medical director of siahmsr wellness.in

All rights reserved with siahmsr digital healthcare[siahmsr wellness]

Reviewed by SIAHMSR medical team.

 Habitual abortion is recurring spontaneous abortion in women and it affects 1% of couples trying to conceive. It is defined as three or more consecutive pregnancy losses before 20 weeks of gestation.

 The exact cause of it remains unexplained in 50% of the cases of habitual abortion.

Common causes of habitual abortion include:

1)      Uterine abnormalities or defective structure of the uterus

15-20% from mullerian fusion defects.

2)      Infections

 Chlamydia, bacterial infections, TORCH [ toxoplasma, rubella, cytomegalovirus, herpes ] infections

3)      Genes

      Both parental and embryonic defects are responsible.

4)      Endocrine or hormonal

 Luteal phase defect [ problem with corpus luteal progesterone hormone production for maintaining pregnancy] , insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, thyroid disorders

5)      Metabolic

Folate and vitamin B12 deficiency and[ hyperhomocysteinaemia ]raised levels of homocysteine in the blood due to the deficiency cause abortion.

6)      Immunologic

The exact role of immunological factors is still not clear, however they play some role in causing miscarriage in a fraction of pregnant women.

7)      Environmental

Alcohol consumption, smoking, high caffeine.

8]  Thrombophilic

 Thrombosis or clot formation  in uteroplacental blood vessels such as anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome is another cause of habitual abortion.

                                    SIAHMSR                             

Diagnosis of habitual abortion 

Tests 

a. For the diagnosis of uterine defects following tests are done:

·       Hysteroscopy

·       Hysterosalpingography (HSG)

·       Sono hysterograms

·       Vaginal ultrasonography

All these tests can help to visualize uterine abnormalities.

B. antiphospholipid syndrome [APS]

  Diagnosis of APS requires the presence of at least 1 of the clinical criteria and at least 1 of the laboratory criteria. The clinical criteria include the following:

·       Vascular thrombosis or occlusion by clots.

·       3 or more consecutive unexplained miscarriages.

·       At least 1 unexplained death of a morphologically normal fetus at or after 10 weeks' gestation

·       At least 1 premature birth of a morphologically normal neonate at or before 34 weeks' gestation, associated with severe preeclampsia or severe placental insufficiency.

·       The laboratory criteria include the following:

·       aCL: Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and/or immunoglobulin M (IgM) isotype is present in medium or high titer on 2 or more occasions, 6 or more weeks apart.

·       Prolonged phospholipid-dependent coagulation on screening tests.

·       Inability to correct the prolonged screening test with normal platelet-poor plasma.

·       Successful correction of the prolonged screening test with excess phospholipids.

·       Exclusion of other coagulopathies as clinically indicated and heparin.

C.       Other tests for diagnosing habitual abortion

·       Fasting and random blood glucose level

·       Thyroid function test & antithyroid antibodies

·       Female sex hormones

Treatment for habitual abortion

·       Addressing the causes of habitual abortion is the appropriate mode of treatment to be adopted.

·       If hormonal problems cause habitual abortion hormone replacement therapy may be required much before planning a pregnancy.

·       Manage luteal phase defect with progesterone supplementation.

·       Manage diabetes in women with high blood glucose level.

·       Uterine abnormalities are to be rectified by surgical repair

·       Treat infections with appropriate medications.

·       Avoid alcohol consumption, smoking.

·       Stress management

·       As advanced maternal age is a risk advise to the couple to plan pregnancy at a younger age before mid-thirties.

Management of habitual abortion with Complementary &alternative system of medicine

     Homeopathy for treating habitual abortion:

Caulophyllum, ferrum,kali-carb,helonius,plumbum,sabina,sepia, sulphur, viburnum,zinc are some of the important homeopathic medications to prevent habitual abortion.

 Written by dr sanjana vb [ copyright]

References

1.      https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1471769703000224#:~:text=Introduction-,Habitual%20abortion%20is%20defined%20as%20three%20or%20more%20consecutive%20pregnancy,of%20reproductive%20age%20%5B1%5D.

2.      https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/260495-overview?form=fpf

3. Homeopathic medical repertory