Miscarriage statistics Note: It is extremely difficult to obtain accurate statistics on miscarriage for several reasons. Firstly, the majority of miscarriages occur before the mother realises she is pregnant. If these unrecognised miscarriages are included, it is estimated that 40-60% of pregnancies ends in miscarriage. (Bengt Kallen, The Epidemiology of Human Reproduction (1988)) But even if we restrict the figures to recognised pregnancies, the miscarriage rate is difficult to determine because many remain unreported. The following statistics are our best estimates based on the most reliable sources available. They may well be underestimates. Miscarriage - general * 1 in 4 women who gets pregnant will experience a miscarriage * 15% of all pregnancies ends in a miscarriage (Source: Dorothy Warburton and F. Clarke Fraser (1964) Spontaneous Abortion Risks in Man: Data from Reproductive Histories Collected in a Medical Genetics Unit - Am J Hum Genet. 1964 March; 16(1): 1–25. (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1932458) Relative risk of miscarriage First pregnancy: 5%
Last pregnancy a live birth: 5%
Two or more previous pregnancies resulted in live birth: 4%
One previous miscarriage: 20%
Two previous miscarriages: 24%
Three previous miscarriages: 43% (Source: L. Regan, P. Braude, L. Trembath, Influence of Past Reproductive Performance on Risk of Spontaneous Abortion, BR Med J 1989 Volume 299, 541-5) Risk of miscarriage & age Age: 12-19 years Miscarriage Risk: 13.3%
Age: 20-24 years Miscarriage Risk: 11.1%
Age: 25-29 years Miscarriage Risk: 11.9%
Age: 30-34 years Miscarriage Risk: 15.0%
Age: 35-39 years Miscarriage Risk: 24.6%
Age: 40-44 years Miscarriage Risk: 51.0%
Age: 45 or more Miscarriage Risk: 93.4%. (Source: Anne-Marie Nybo Andersen, Jan Wohlfahrt, Peter Christens, Jorn Olsen, Mads Melbye, Maternal Age and Fetal Loss: Population Based Register Linkage Study, BMJ 2000; 320: 1708-1712)
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