Products of Conception

Miscarriage is defined as gestational loss that occurs before a fetus is viable. This includes losses during pregnancy that occur before the 20th week of gestation or the loss of a fetus whose weight is less than 500 g. An estimated 23 million miscarriages occur every year worldwide, translating to 44 pregnancy losses each minute. Despite advances in obstetric care, miscarriage is the most common complication observed during the first trimester of pregnancy, and the overall risk of miscarriage is 15.3% (95% CI 12.5–18.7%) among recognized pregnancies. The frequency of women who have had one miscarriage is 10.8% (10.3–11.4%), two miscarriages is 1.9% (1.8–2.1%), and three or more miscarriages is 0.7% (0.5–0.8%) worldwide ( 1 ).