
What Does It Mean To Lose A Pregnancy?


A woman has her blood pressure checked by a registered nurse practitioner during a checkup at Planned Parenthood. JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES hide caption
A woman has her blood pressure checked by a registered nurse practitioner during a checkup at Planned Parenthood.
JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGESLast November, former First Lady Michelle Obama released her memoir, Becoming.
One of the revelations was that, two decades ago, she had a miscarriage.
"I felt lost and alone and I felt like I failed, because I didn't know how common miscarriages were. Because we don't talk about them," she wrote.
Michelle Obama is not alone in feeling alone. Not by a long shot. Up to one in every four pregnancies ends in miscarriage.
How could something so common be talked about so rarely and be so misunderstood?
Some of those misunderstandings could have dangerous impacts in light of new abortion restrictions. They could inadvertently harm women suffering pregnancy loss.
We demystify the miscarriage.