10 miscarriages, 2 live births

by Charlene
(France)

My friend has two daughters... 12 and 6 years old. She had four baby boys stillborn at 5-6 months and the rest removed by D/C.

We don't know if the D/C removed babies were male or female. What would make her have so many miscarriages and is there anything that would target boys?

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10 miscarriages, 2 live births

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Feb 28, 2010

10 miscarriages, 2 live births
by: Wray

Hi Charlene. Many things can cause miscarriages, but stress is a major factor. Was she at all stressed just prior to the miscarriages? Stress drops progesterone levels, it's the drop which causes the miscarriage. Much the same way the drop in progesterone at the end of our cycle causes us to bleed. Nothing is targeting the boys, more boy babies are born than girls, more die in early childhood than girls. Until the ratio evens out at about age 50, thereafter, there are more women than men, as more men die at an earlier age. Please see this paper for infant mortality:

"Male infants have been consistently noted to have a higher infant mortality rate than female infants.The higher rate of mortality for male infants is present both in the neonatal and the postneonatal period and persists even after other known risk factors for mortality are controlled"

And this:"Women tend to have a lower mortality rate at every age. In the womb, male fetuses have a higher mortality rate (babies are conceived in a ratio of about 124 males to 100 females, but the ratio of those surviving to birth is only 105 males to 100 females). Among the smallest premature babies (those under 2 pounds or 900 g) females again have a higher survival rate. At the other extreme, about 90% of individuals aged 110 are female."

Take care, Wray

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Feb 28, 2010
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Submitted by: Wray

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Hi Charlene. Many things can cause miscarriages, but stress is a major factor. Was she at all stressed just prior to the miscarriages? Stress drops progesterone levels, it's the drop which causes the miscarriage. Much the same way the drop in progesterone at the end of our cycle causes us to bleed. Nothing is targeting the boys, more boy babies are born than girls, more die in early childhood than girls. Until the ratio evens out at about age 50, thereafter, there are more women than men, as more men die at an earlier age. Please see this paper for infant mortality: <a href="http://www.nature.com/jp/journal/v24/n2/full/7211021a.html" target="_blank">"Male infants</a> have been consistently noted to have a higher infant mortality rate than female infants.The higher rate of mortality for male infants is present both in the neonatal and the postneonatal period and persists even after other known risk factors for mortality are controlled" <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy" target="_blank">And this:</a>"Women tend to have a lower mortality rate at every age. In the womb, male fetuses have a higher mortality rate (babies are conceived in a ratio of about 124 males to 100 females, but the ratio of those surviving to birth is only 105 males to 100 females). Among the smallest premature babies (those under 2 pounds or 900 g) females again have a higher survival rate. At the other extreme, about 90% of individuals aged 110 are female." Take care, Wray

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