Dear Ladies

I have just suffered my second miscarriage. I lost my first baby at 9 weeks and was delighted to get pregnant again straight away. Apart from a few small bleeds everything was going well and my scan at 21 weeks showed everything to be normal. Stupidly I felt so confident that I bought the pram. It all went horridly wrong and I delivered my son at 22+5, too soon for him to survive, and now I'm left angry and heartbroken.

I still don't know what caused my miscarriages and am awaiting the results of the post mortem and the blood tests

I want to raise awareness of an underdiagnosed condition called Hughes Syndrome. It is responsible for lots of miscarriages and the goods news is it can be diagnosed with a blood test and treated with a low dose of aspirin!

You would think that for the sake of a blood test and a course of aspirin every woman of childbearing age would be encouraged to be tested before they try for a baby!!

I don't know whether I am sufferering from this as yet my blood test results are not back yet but I'm angry that I was not offered this test after my first miscarriage. I find this system where women need to suffer 3 miscarriages before they are entitled to investigations inhumane.

I strongly encourage everyone here who has suffered a miscarriage to demand that their doctor have them tested for this. My doctor knew nothing about this and i'm having to arrange this with the hospital but the website indicates that GPs should be able to arrange this for you:

Please see the Hughes Syndrome website for details. Prof. Hughes is based at St Thomas' Hospital in London. Print the details and take them to your doctor as in my experience they've not been made aware of this:

http://www.hughes-syndrome.org/diagnosis.htm

I intend to keep bumping this message up on the forum to spread the word to anyone who joins us here. I do not want to see people coming back here following a 2nd or 3rd miscarriage if it is preventable.

Sorry for the rant but I hope you will support me in this. Miscarriage is a horrible thing and I feel that following the death of my own son I need to try and prevent other women and babies suffering.

Thanks,

Claire xx

Hi Claire,

Firstly Im am terribly sorry for you loss.

I completly agree with you hun, if this is something that can be detected easily from a blood test then shouldnt they at least check when you have your 1st bloods done!!! xx

I just spotted your post and wanted to add something i found out after my first mc.

I read somewhere that your thyroid function can cause mc. Not sure if its over or underactive, but i mentioned it to my gp and she was happy to do a blood test before i tried to conceive again. My test was normal but its an easy thing to correct if it had not been normal and something else to rule out.

Gemm x
10 wks

Hi Gemm,

You must have felt glad that thyroid function was ruled out. When i see the Consultant i'll ask him if they've tested that. There was a huge list of things they were testing for me including liver function. i expect it'll be a couple of weeks before I get the blood results back.

Good luck with your pregnancy!

Claire am so sorry for your loss but thank-you for the post - seen it on the other thread as well.

I have noted this down, the Factor 5 Leiden mentioned in the other thread and the thyroid function as things to talk to my doc about - so thank-you x

Hope all is OK with you hun and totally agree that 3 MCs is redic to test and women should be offered advice and blood tests at start of pregnancies and at very least god forbid like us after the first MC

x

Hi Radkad78,

I'm glad you are going to raise these matters with your GP. I hope that he/she is supportive.

So many people have been telling me about people they know who had 2 or 3 miscarriages then went on to have children. My friend's sister in law has had her 3rd baby at 40 recently but had 3 miscarriages before her first son arrived. She was monitored very carefully during pregnancy and everything turned out well for them after all their sorrow. This gives me hope although I have moments of dispair when I wonder if there will be a happy ever after for me.

Hi Ladies,

I agree with you all, I know as they say "these things can happen" and I know that most women do go on to have healthy pg & baby's but the heartache of 1 mc let alone a couple more before anyone will do anything is a joke really!!

I have to consider myself lucky!! i've had 2 & the doc has referred me to gynae but is that cause i've a history with gynae!! What about all the other hundreds of women I almost feel guilty for being referred & at the same time im scared to conceive just incase it happens again!!! x

When I was at the EPU the nurse there (in her 60s I'd say) said she had 3 miscarriages and went on to have 5 children and now has 10 grandkids - so that kinda reassured me on the day when I was distressed............so I know it can all be OK but just so hard that you have to have the 3 before anyone helps you in anyway!!!! Rubbish!!

Fingers crossed for us all!!!! But def be talking to the docs about it just to see what they say

xxx

Hi ladies,

I had a call from the Consultant's secretary yesterday and have an appointment for the week after next which is good. the call took me by surprise so I'm not sure whether the doc has my blood tests back or the post mortem report to discuss with us. Hopefully he'll have everything. i've never met him so i just hope that he is nice. I'm not ready for TTC yet but at least he'll be able to tell me whether it is safe to start.

Having the appointment is at least helping me to start looking forward. We want a baby so much that it is hurting us so badly. Something so easily attained by others seems far out of reach for us.

Take care ladies!

Hi There,

I'm bumping my old post as there might be new ladies who have not seen this.

I got my blood tests back some time ago and found out that I do have Hughes Syndrome (also known as Antiphospholipid syndrome, APS or 'sticky blood').

I'm seeing a new consultant on Monday and hope she'll give us the all clear to start trying again. Next pregnancy I'll most likely need to take Aspirin and inject myself daily with a blood thinning drug called Heparin but that is such a small price to pay if i can make my husband a daddy.

hi claire.

hopefully the new consultant will get things moving forr you and be able to also reassure you.

i wish you well xx

Hi Claire,

I just wanted to thank you for posting this. I did see it the 1st time you posted but after suffering a 3rd mmc not to long ago we have had our 1st appt at the recurrent mc clinic tues gone & are being tested for this along with loads of other tests.
Like you say they should really do this as routine, I know sadly that mc can be one of those things but a simple test could mean the differance to so many couples.

I wish you all the luck in the world hun xxx

Hi Claire,

I past this information on to many of my friends, of which a few of them are midwives and had not heard of this syndrome, so hopefully the info will be put to good use, really hope it goes well with the consultant on Monday xxx