Symptoms differ depending on how advanced the pregnancy was and what caused the miscarriage. Threatened miscarriage may be experienced days or even weeks before you lose the baby, however, a threatened miscarriage does not always end in miscarriage. any of the following symptoms may be experienced by mothers at this stage:

• light vaginal bleeding;

• vaginal discharge;

• pain similar to period pain (uterine cramps); or

• no longer 'feeling' pregnant, for example, the tender breasts and nausea associated with pregnancy may disappear.

Consult the doctor if you have any of these problems. In many of these cases the symptoms settle down and the pregnancy continues as normal.

In miscarriage the cervix opens, and part or all of the contents of the uterus come away and pass out of the vagina. There are several common signs of miscarriage.

• Heavy bleeding

• Pain is like bad period pain or birth contractions.

• Faintness and nausea.

• Pieces of placenta which look like blood clots or pieces of raw liver are passed out.

• You may see the fetus. The fetus may be alive, if you are more than 4 months pregnant, .

When some pregnancy tissue remains inside the uterus an incomplete miscarriage occurs . You may need to have a dilatation and curettage (D & C) or vacuum aspiration operation after an incomplete miscarriage due to the risk of infection developing from tissue remaining in your uterus. For this a general anaesthetic will be given, your cervix opened and uterus completely emptied. The miscarriage is complete once the uterus is empty again . The cervix closes, pain stops and bleeding slows down.