What is a chemical pregnancy?
It may sound ridiculous, but it is true women can have a miscarriage without even knowing that they were pregnant in the first place. This condition is called “chemical pregnancy”, and it is much more common than you think.
Chemical pregnancy is also known as biochemical pregnancy where a woman goes through both pregnancy and miscarriage before her next “period”. It is possible for women to go through chemical pregnancy time and time again and never realise that they were ever pregnant. When this happens, then the woman is going through a recurrent early miscarriage.
Why do some women mistake chemical pregnancies for infertility?
People with chemical pregnancies are unaware that they were pregnant because we usually only test for pregnancy if our period is delayed and once our “period” comes, we will naturally assume that we are not pregnant and there is no need to test for pregnancy. A chemical pregnancy comes and goes silently, it would seem as though your period is still here monthly, which leads to the idea that you are not pregnant. Additionally, it is also difficult for people with chemical pregnancies to have normal healthy pregnancies. Those are the reasons why some may have the misconception that they are infertile, when in fact they are suffering from recurrent early miscarriage, so early that they do not even know they were pregnant.
What causes chemical pregnancy?
Chemical pregnancy is caused by a reproductive immunity disorder. This disorder is caused by the presence of anti-embryonic antibodies in mother’s body. This condition is extremely prevalent for those who had abortions or miscarriages before. If you have had multiple early pregnancy losses, there is a high chance your body has anti-embryonic antibodies. It is an overlooked condition because doctors are unaware of the existence of “anti-embryonic antibodies”.
This was first researched by Antai hospital’s director, Dr Chen Fenglin. His clinical research and close to two decades of clinical practice revealed that 70 percent of women with recurrent early miscarriage has anti-embryonic antibodies in their body attacking the chorionic villi, which is an essential structure for the development of the embryo. Once the chorionic villi are destroyed, the embryo will have no chance of survival, and miscarriage will occur.
Symptoms of chemical pregnancy
There are actually no symptoms for chemical pregnancy, except for possible slightly early or delayed “period”. The reason why your “period” might come on an unexpected date, and the reason for the quotation marks is because the bleeding you see is not actually your period blood. It is vaginal bleeding because you just had a miscarriage. However, the pregnancy is so early that it does not cause abnormal cramping or excessive bleeding, which is why it is often thought to be period blood.
Medical history
Since chemical pregnancy is so hard to detect, then how do I know if I am suffering from it?
You might want to consult a doctor if you have a history of:
- Recurrent miscarriage
- Induced or spontaneous abortion(s)
- Infertility (you have a normal sex life but no children)
- Irregular period (period may come one week earlier or later)
Diagnosis of chemical pregnancy
You will be diagnosed with a chemical pregnancy if:
- You have high levels of hCG before your period comes (hCG is an indicator of pregnancy).
- You period arrives and subsequent hCG tests reveal that your hCG level is dropping gradually.
You will be diagnosed with high risk of having chemical pregnancy if:
- Your anti-embryonic antibodies test is positive (the test is currently only available at Antai hospital)
How to prevent chemical pregnancy?
In order to prevent another chemical pregnancy, patients should receive treatment for reproductive immunity disorder because it is the main reason behind your pregnancy.
To treat reproductive immunity disorder
If you had a chemical pregnancy or suffering from recurrent early miscarriage, you should do an anti-embryonic antibodies diagnosis. Once it is a confirmed case, then you must receive an immunity treatment from Antai hospital, if not you will still suffer from miscarriages. It is highly effective and has treated over 34,000 women with recurrent early miscarriage.
Note that the treatment to prevent a chemical pregnancy should be done before you get pregnant. If you know that you had a chemical pregnancy, you should not “try your luck” and see if the next pregnancy will be successful. More often than not, you will suffer from an early miscarriage again because chemical pregnancies are caused by other underlying conditions that you will first need to receive treatment for.
There is always hope
If you have been diagnosed with chemical pregnancy before, it is actually good news. It means that you do not have any fertility issues and you can get pregnant! You just have to receive the appropriate treatments for recurrent miscarriage and your rainbow baby will be here sooner than you realise.
Antai hospital specializes in the treatment of various recurrent miscarriage conditions. We pioneer in the diagnosis and treatment of reproductive immunity disorder with a 95 percent success rate. Contractual treatment with a full refund policy for unsuccessful treatment is available. Get in touch with us today!