Others are a birth defect, especially one that is severe, as is the death of a newborn. Also, some birth mothers and surrogate mothers who gave up their babies for adoption, and some women who've had abortions experience pregnancy loss. A miscarriage, medically called a spontaneous abortion, is the expulsion from the womb of a fetus not yet able to survive on its own.
Most miscarriages occur in the first three months of pregnancy.
Only one percent occur after 20 weeks gestation. Of course, many women who don't have morning sickness do not miscarry. Many studies report that women past age 35 miscarry at twice the rate of younger women. However, that rate is not the same for all women in that age group. Symptoms of a miscarriage are bleeding, which progresses from light to heavy, and usually cramps.