Are Super Fertile Women Prone to Miscarriage?

Could being super fertile be a factor in repeat pregnancy loss? Possible answers to multiple miscarriages for some women may have recently dawned, with a study suggesting that "super-fertility" may play a role in recurrent pregnancy loss. According to a small study published in the journal of PLOS One (Public Library Of Science), initial evidence on select cases studies may show that some women have uteruses so conducive for implanting embryos, that they simply implant nearly every embryo, whether they are viable or not.

Suffering through recurrent miscarriages, 3 or more in a row, can be a traumatizing ordeal. Many women who struggle with fertility issues and continual pregnancy loss are at a high risk for suffering emotional issues and circumstantial depression. Finding answers that may identify what causes, at least in some women, a higher rate of miscarriage, will not only aide in proper support and esteem for struggling mothers, but may be a stepping stone in identifying various options for possible implantation assistance in certain cases.

According to a BBC article, "Doctors at Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton and the University Medical Center Utrecht, took samples from the wombs of six women who had normal fertility and six who had had recurrent miscarriages." The doctors reportedly tested the womb cells with both high and low quality embryos. Their findings suggest that in women who are extremely fertile, it's not that their wombs reject healthy embryos, but rather, that they accept every kind of embryo, both healthy and unhealthy ones. This would mean that, in these cases, their reproductive systems are so equipped at implanting embryos, that even poor quality ones which should be rejected are being implanted, consequently making the woman more prone to miscarry. Dr Siobhan Quenby, from the Royal College Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, reportedly told the BBC, "This theory is really quite attractive. It is lovely. It's a really important paper that will change the way we think about implantation."

The theory is certainly not a conclusive answer to explain all miscarriages. According to The Miscarriage Association, recurrent miscarriage affects "approximately one in every hundred couples trying to have a baby." Sometimes the causes and risk factors are known, sometimes, they are not. Each new pregnancy can bring hope and anxiety, states M.A., and that can put stress on even the strongest of relationships. Testing can be done for genetic and other reasons or underlying health conditions to find the reasons for three or more miscarriages in a row, but they don't always turn up answers. The Miscarriage Association reports that more than half of the couples who have investigations for recurrent miscarriage "don't come out with a reason as to why they have miscarried."

In an article at LiveScience, one of the authors of the super-fertility study shares that this new insight into the biology of implantation offers possibilities for treating and preventing recurrent miscarriages. "Recurrent miscarriage can now be seen not as failure to carry a pregnancy, but perhaps as failure to prevent one, in other words super-fertility, but with distressing consequences," Nick Macklon, a co-author of the paper and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Southampton in the U.K., reportedly told LiveScience.

Experts assessing the research all agree that more testing needs to be done to determine if further steps, aide or analysis can change the way women who are susceptible to miscarriage due to hyper fertility conditions are treated. The article in LiveScience also reported that the same research team who published these findings also has "new data on the biology underpinning maternal recognition and rejection of abnormal embryos, which they hope to publish soon."