A miscarriage is the loss of a baby before the 20th week of pregnancy. The medical term for a miscarriage is spontaneous abortion. But it isn't an abortion in the common meaning of the term.

When is it considered a miscarriage?

A miscarriage is the loss of your baby before 20 weeks of pregnancy. The loss of a baby after 20 weeks is called a stillbirth. Up to 1 in 5 confirmed pregnancies end in miscarriage before 20 weeks, but many other women miscarry without having realised they are pregnant.

Does a miscarriage count as a pregnancy?

A miscarriage is the loss of a pregnancy (the loss of an embryo or fetus before it's developed enough to survive). This sometimes happens even before a woman knows she is pregnant. Unfortunately, miscarriages are fairly common.