My friend is 10 weeks and said if you have seen a heart beat on ultrasound miscarrige is rare?

Question

While i did not want to argue with her does it really mean there is no chance of miscarriage or the risk of miscarriage drops,

MY friend saw her baby at 8 weeks and there was a fetal pole and heart beat,

She has had some bloody discharge and i said she should get checked out and she did and that is what they said ,

They did not do a scan just examined her and said what they did about miscarriage

Answer 1

Miscarriage happens out of the blue and by reasons no one can be too sure about. Even though there was a heartbeat doesnt mean there will be one in a few days, a week, few months or any unexpected time, but i do not wish this on anybody im just answering a question. Also i had bleeding and it was just stress, lots of women bleed just because lol most of the time its normal.

Answer 2

I coudn't hear a heartbeat at 10 1/2 weeks, we did at 12 1/2 weeks. Once you do see the heartbeat there is a less chance of miscarriage. Same with hearing it. I'm surprised if they couldn't hear it they didn't do a quick portable ultrasound. My doctor would have.  

Answer 3

nothing is a definite. i was told, at 10 weeks, that my blood show was nothing. the next day i had a miscarriage. when its that early in your pregnancy, nothing is for sure.  

Answer 4

im in the uk my sister had a very early scan due to bleeding and the heart beat was seen and she was told it was very unlikely to end, she went on to have a healthy baby boy

here we dont tend to have any scans until a dating scan at around 12wks, sometimes if u are bleeding, have a previous complaint or are very un sure of dates but its very rare for doctors to do very much early in a pregnancy because IF u are going to lose it there is nothing to stop it.

my midwife wont try to pick up the heart beat until im 16wks just incase she cant and i panic it is different all over the world

i hope ur friend having the heart beat detected does mean its going to be ok for her  shes lucky to have a friend whos so concerned x x x x

Answer 5

The chance of miscarriage does drop. It rules out a blighted ovum which cause about 50% of miscarriages - in a blighted ovum a heartbeat was never established. Therefore there is less of a risk of miscarriage. Depends on where you look but it is about 5 to 10% down from about 20%.

However, that doesn't mean there is NO risk and bleeding should be evaluated.

Answer 6

Did your friend have s*x recently? It could be that. I know some one who would bleed after s*x because her cervix had a small place that was lets just say for a better  lack of words.a small raw place that would be irritated during s*x. Hope your friend is well.

Answer 7

I have always heard that your chance of miscarriage drops greatly after the first trimester is over. But its not true that if they see a heartbeat then you can not have a miscarriage. If that was true, what about the women who miscarry at 5 months or so? Their babies had heart beats. That makes no sense as to what your friend said.

Answer 8

Different sources will give you different percentages, but your risk of miscarriage drops to about 5-10% once you see a heartbeat, and then 5% or less once you hit the second trimester.

I had bloody discharge during my first trimester, especially when my period would have been due.  I did get a few scans, but thankfully everything was fine.

Answer 9

ive never heard about that being true, as if there is a problem then you can miscarry whether there is a heartbeat or not. a perfectly healthy baby can be lost at any time with no explantation, its just one of those horrible things that happen. i saw my babys heartbeat at my first scan at 7+5 weeks, it was very strong and reassuring. im now 22 weeks and everything is fine, even though i have quite a few fertillity problems. but if someone is going to miscarry it will happen regardless.

Answer 10

it isn't that miscarriage after seeing a heartbeat is "rare" but it is just less likely because the heart is functioning. but many people still have second trimester miscarriages. every pregnancy has about a 20% chance of miscarriage in the first trimester. after seeing a heartbeat the chance drops to about 5% (i believe)  

Answer 11

Well, if it were me and there were blood, I'd want them to check it out a little further.

But yes, according to my doctor and a few articles I've read, once you've seen or heard a strong heartbeat the chance of miscarriage does drop. But it never totally goes away. Even after you enter your second trimester, it drops again, but there is always a chance. Any bleeding should be checked out, no matter what.

Answer 12

Well a friend of mine lost one at 3 in half months and heart beat was fine it just stopped beating. They probably just don't want her to stress because that can cause miscarriage too. Intercourse can cause a bloody discharge when you are pregnant and that is usually no big deal just don't have intercourse for a few weeks. Most importantly be observant but don't worry. Stay stress free!

Answer 13

That sounds weird, frankly. There definitively are miscarriages even after there had been a heartbeat visible on the ultrasound.

Didn't they even take a blood test to check for the level of pregnancy hormones? That's what they did, when I had bloody discharge in the first trimester.

Answer 14

it really doesn't matter if you hear the heartbeat yet or not... basically, there is always a chance of a miscarriage no  matter where you are in your pregnancy, but the chances drop dramatically once you hit 12 weeks.

best wishes!

Answer 15

I think that is just wishful thinking on her part, but can u blame her? A good friend wouldn't argue that and make all her worries amplified, I think a great friend would just smile, nod and say "yea, things should be ok" that way your not promising anything, but still reassuring her while listening and sounding supportive.  I have hear that once u see a heartbeat, yes the risk is lower, because it rules out a blighted ovum, that the pregnancy is in fact in the uterus and is progressing. Sure the risk is never really over, a friend of mine went into labor at 15 weeks and delivered a really tiny baby that passed within the hour. All you should do is just be supportive and try to ease her fears...

Answer 16

I think you friend went to a quack.  If you bleed or spot early in the pregnancy go get it checked out.  They told me at 9 weeks when I started to spot to come in so they can check me out.  They said I was fine and just to take it easy and some first time mothers do that.    After that I had a normal pregnancy but not so for my friend.  She spotted at 11 weeks and then all of a sudden she miscarried at 5 months.  So they are wrong.  Go to your doctor and check it out.  They will monitor you closely for awhile (a couple of weeks).  Sometimes miscarriages mean there is something wrong with the baby and your body tries to get rid of things that are not in balance with your body.  

Answer 17

the risk does go down once you have seen or heard the heartbeat, but i still never feel comfortable until I'm at least 13 weeks