This suggests that hormone levels are not establishing properly. If an ultrasound scan is done, there may just be an empty sac, and even if there is foetal tissue, there will be no sign of a beating heart. One in six of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, the majority in the first nine weeks. Many of these will be due to a blighted ovum. Although genetic or chromosome abnormalities are probably responsible for about half of these, there may be many other factors, including hormonal problems, illness in the mother, infection, problems with the womb, and many other conditions.
Most women become pregnant again fairly soon after the miscarriage.
The risk of another blighted ovum, or genetic problems, is very small, as having a blighted ovum does not mean that you and your partner have genetic problems. Very rarely, there is a recurring genetic problem - perhaps both parents carry the gene for an abnormality, such as cystic fibrosis, which means that any baby conceived has a high chance of an inherited condition, who could mean that the pregnancy cannot advance. But miscarriages are so common that in most cases doctors are unlikely to investigate why it has happened until you have had at least four miscarriages. It is often considered to be a matter of bad luck rather than a problem which needs explanation. This is very hard to accept when you are going through recurrent miscarriage and yearning for a child.