f these researchers can develop effective testing and treatment protocols for avoiding miscarriage, they’ll bring hope to thousands of families.
There is no form of involuntary infertility that isn’t heartbreaking, and suffering from multiple miscarriages is no exception. Getting happily pregnant — with all the attendant hopes and dreams — only to have those hopes and dreams shattered is a terrible thing to face even once, much less over and over again.
Now researchers in the UK think they’ve uncovered the cause of multiple miscarriages. Based on research on tissue samples donated from 183 patients at the Implantation Research Center in Warwick, scientists have discovered that those who had suffered three or more miscarriages had a lower number of stem cells in their wombs. This shortfall of stem cells seems to cause premature aging of the lining of the uterus, causing pregnancies to fail.
The next step, of course, is figuring out how to reverse the issue and allow patients to complete pregnancies. The scientists are hoping to begin pilot treatment programs as early as this year.
The author of the study, Siobahn Quenby, said, “Our focus will be twofold. First, we wish to improve the screening of women at risk of recurrent miscarriage by developing new endometrial tests. Second, there are a number of drugs and other interventions — such as endometrial ‘scratch,’ a procedure used to help embryos implant more successfully — that have the potential to increase the stem cell populations in the womb lining.”
If these researchers can develop effective testing and treatment protocols for avoiding miscarriage, they’ll bring hope to thousands of families. Fingers crossed it all works out!
