Am I Having a Miscarriage?

It's not always easy to tell whether you are having a miscarriage in the first trimester of pregnancy. For people who know they are pregnant, possible miscarriage symptoms can be challenging to interpret.

Signs like vaginal bleeding or cramping may not always be present right away nor are they strictly limited to miscarriage. Bleeding and uterine cramping can be present in normal pregnancies as well as ectopic pregnancies. Likewise, other clues suggesting a potential miscarriage, like a sudden disappearance of pregnancy symptoms, may be subtle and not so obvious.

Speaking with your obstetrician, midwife, or doula if you are concerned about a miscarriage in the first trimester is paramount. Your healthcare provider can help you determine whether your symptoms mean a miscarriage by using objective diagnostic tests. If you are in a later stage of pregnancy and worried about miscarriage, your first step should always be to call your healthcare provider.

Symptoms of Miscarriage in the First Trimester

First, be sure that you are indeed having miscarriage symptoms before you worry too much. It's important to note, however, that the presence of these symptoms is not a definitive indication that a person is indeed miscarrying. For example, mild abdominal cramping during pregnancy is rarely anything to worry about.

Brown spotting can also occur in normal pregnancies, although you still should call your physician. Heavy and red vaginal bleeding is a more concerning symptom.

Other potential signs and symptoms of a first-trimester miscarriage include:

• Feelings of dizziness or lightheadedness
• Passing clots, which may contain blood mixed in with fetal tissue
• A gush of clear or pinkish vaginal discharge
• Loss of pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness or sore breasts

While the sudden loss of early pregnancy symptoms can be linked to miscarriage, it is a less-likely sign. Some pregnancy symptoms naturally disappear or fluctuate as the pregnancy progresses. For instance, nausea and morning sickness often calm down naturally mid-pregnancy or sooner, and this disappearance may seem sudden to some women.

Follow your gut and talk to your healthcare provider if you feel like something is just not right.

Take a Pregnancy Test

If your pregnancy test is negative and was previously positive, you can likely assume you had a miscarriage. If your test is positive, your pregnancy may still be viable. In this case, you will need to check with your physician to find out for sure. A pregnancy test may still be positive soon after a miscarriage because the pregnancy hormone (hCG) level has not decreased enough to make a pregnancy test negative.

If your pregnancy test is negative and you were not sure whether you were pregnant in the first place, it's not possible to tell whether or not your abnormal bleeding was a miscarriage. In this instance, it's best to report your experience to a doctor if you are worried.

Also, note that in early pregnancy, it's best to not try to figure out whether you are miscarrying by taking multiple pregnancy tests regularly to see if the line gets darker and darker. Home pregnancy tests cannot accurately judge your hCG levels and the darkness of the line can vary based on the time of day and amount of water you've been drinking.

See Your Healthcare Provider

Your healthcare provider can perform more sensitive tests to determine if you are still pregnant. The wait for test results can be difficult, but sometimes a physician cannot determine immediately whether one set of test results means miscarriage.

You may have to wait for a follow-up ultrasound to find out if the baby is still developing or for a repeat blood test to see if your hCG levels are rising or falling. Your physician will want to be sure of the answer before confirming a diagnosis of pregnancy loss.

A Word From Verywell

Worrying about a miscarriage is common in early pregnancy, especially if you have experienced a pregnancy loss before. Contact your doctor if signs or symptoms of a miscarriage arise, and try to remain calm and seek support until you know for sure.