Collection! Blindly preserving the fetus may lead to fetal malformation

From a biological perspective, human reproduction is the recombination and retransmission of genetic material. Each person's genetic material - 23 pairs of 46 chromosomes, half from the father and half from the mother. When the genetic material is passed on to the next generation, it must undergo a special meiosis process, during which the paternal and maternal chromosomes exchange with each other at the same part of the gene, and then separate and enter a reproductive cell (sperm and egg). The number of chromosomes in reproductive cells is only half of that in other tissues. Only when the reproductive cells of the parents meet to form a zygote, the number of chromosomes returns to 23 pairs of 46, and a new life is formed.

Early spontaneous abortion: 80% have chromosomal abnormalities

In the process of new life formation, it is inevitable that errors will occur during the exchange and separation of chromosomes. If chromosomal abnormalities occur, most embryos will terminate their development. Generally speaking, the more abnormal chromosomes are involved and the longer the fragments are, the greater the impact on embryonic development and the earlier the termination of development occurs. When chromosomal defects are very serious, embryonic death may occur before the pregnant woman is aware of the pregnancy (also known as: biochemical pregnancy).

Embryos with mild chromosomal defects can survive until birth, but usually have varying degrees of tissue and organ malformations, developmental delays, and intellectual disability. The incidence of such defects in newborns is about 1/500. It can be seen that spontaneous abortion is actually a selective mechanism of the body to avoid the birth of unqualified fetuses. Studies have shown that about 10% of pregnant women will terminate their pregnancies due to spontaneous abortion, and more than 80% of early pregnancy aborted embryos can be found to have chromosomal abnormalities.

Blindly preserving the fetus: Human interference with the natural selection process

In life, some pregnant women who have bleeding in early pregnancy and signs of miscarriage are often eager to have children and rush to receive treatment to preserve the pregnancy. In fact, a healthy embryo can produce enough progesterone and human chorionic gonadotropin to maintain the normal development and growth of the placenta and fetus. Unless the pregnant woman's own endogenous hormone levels are low, supplementing with exogenous "pregnancy-preserving" hormones not only interferes with the normal secretion of endogenous hormones, but also artificially interferes with the body's natural selection process. Some studies have shown that women who have signs of miscarriage during pregnancy and continue their pregnancy are 2-3 times more likely to have prenatal bleeding, premature rupture of membranes, and intrauterine growth restriction, premature birth, low birth weight, and perinatal death than normal mothers.

After spontaneous abortion: Finding the cause is the most important

Many people believe that spontaneous abortion is an accidental event, and if it doesn't work this time, they can try again next time. In fact, after a spontaneous abortion, genetic testing methods such as chromosome karyotype analysis should be used to clarify the cause and type of abortion and assess the risk of the next pregnancy. Most early pregnancy abortions are caused by an increase or decrease in the number of chromosomes. This type of error is usually an accidental event, and the probability of the same error occurring in the next pregnancy is very small.

About 6% of chromosomal abnormalities are structural abnormalities, that is, the number of chromosomes has not changed, but a fragment of a certain region has been lost or amplified. Spontaneous abortion caused by this reason needs special attention. Because about 50% of this type of abnormality is caused by genetics, the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth or birth of a defective baby in the next pregnancy is much higher than that of the general population.