About 10 to 15 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, according to March of Dimes. Women who've endured the heartbreak often experience an unpleasant, crushing sense of guilt. Did the pregnancy end because of the cocktail you had before you knew you were expecting? Was it the raw-milk cheese you mistakenly ate, or the stress you've been feeling about your new job?
The truth is, most early miscarriages are caused by genetic abnormalities that are far beyond the control of a mom-to-be. "When the chromosomes of the egg and those of the sperm fuse to form an embryo, they usually pair up correctly," says Henry Lerner, M.D., an OB-GYN at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts. "But sometimes they get scrambled. If they're paired incorrectly, the embryo stops developing." It doesn't mean that anything's wrong with the mother or father; the pregnancy simply ends because it's not viable.