Hiya!

So I'm Claire! I have been on this for about 2 years now, but not really been on since and you will see why a but later on...

Been with my boyfriend for coming up to 3 years now and we are as happy as ever and all settles although he is quite reluctant to the subject of babies, but I think that is more to do with stress that he is under at the moment!

So I went to the doctors today... I suffered I miscarriage this time 2 years ago ( only just plucked up the courage to come back on here ). My mum had a very sad history with her pregnancys. BetWeen having me and my sister, she had my brother who had spinbifida and had ?neurotube? defects. She also had a miscarriage at 27 weeks with my other sister. I went to the doctors to see if they had any advice to give me with regards to if I was healthy enough to carry a baby. Doctors being as useful as ever, her answer was ' we caNt do anything until you have another miscarraige' really helpful right!? Just wondering if you guys have any words of wisdom you can offer?

We probably won't be looking at trying for the next year or so as I am going to try and stop smoking at the beginning of next month and we need to let the dust settle on a couple things beforehand...

Looking forward to starting my journey with u guys when it eventually happens!!!

The only thing I can say is i dont see why you wouldn't be healthy enough for a baby, no health problems you have personally? And you have increased risk possibly because of history but when you concieve the genetic make up of the baby is random so you wouldn't really know until you are pregnant I think, i'm not a doctor but this is what i know from biology 2 years ago
My friend is pregnant and she will be getting a special scan because her sister was born with a clef pallet? (not sure of the spelling) I hope this helps
Good luck on quitting smoking too x
Also very sorry about your miscarriage

Welcome back! I'm so sorry for your loss, though.

As horrible as they are, miscarriages happens approximately every 1 in 4 pregnancies. So, while devastating, they are "common" in that there is usually not a reason on the part of the mother- it has more to do with genetics, like kiki said.

Also, spina bifida and neural tube defects *can* be prevented by the taking of folic acid on a daily basis. I say "can" because it doesn't always prevent these and I'm not trying to imply that your brother's medical problems were the fault of your mother. However, if you're worried about that medical issue, take a daily prenatal vitamin if your doctor okays it! Someone else on this board stated they saw some research that said miscarriage rates were lower in women who were taking folic acid. I've never seen that information, but you may wish to look into it!

I'm glad you're on here to wait with us, I've found this board to be a complete sanity-saver!!

Hi and welcome back! I'm very sorry for your loss. I understand why you're worried and don't blame you one bit. I've been reading up about miscarriage since my age (over 35) puts me at a greater risk for one. I don't know if family history increases your risk, but, like brenn said, miscarriages are not uncommon. Also, over 80% are due to poor egg/sperm quality with regards to genetic material. In other words, it's a lot to do with bad luck and not whether you are healthy enough to carry a baby. I think, (and hope) your doctor would investigate issues with you now if she thought you weren't healthy enough. IMO, the best thing to do is take control of your health by following through on your plan to stop smoking, and take folic acid, eat right, yadda yadda yadda and see what happens. Have faith in yourself. I bet you're stronger and healthier than you think!