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A miscarriage is the loss of a pregnancy during the first 23 weeks. The main sign is vaginal bleeding, which may be followed by cramping and pain in your lower abdomen.
Miscarriages are much more common than most people realise. It is estimated 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. Many more occur before a woman is even aware she is pregnant. About 1% of couples will experience recurrent miscarriage.
While there are many possible causes of miscarriage, no definitive cause can be identified in any particular instance of miscarriage. The main causes are thought to be:
Women with very irregular periods may find it harder to conceive, and when they do, are more likely to miscarry.
In about half of all early miscarriages, the baby does not develop normally right from the start and cannot survive.
Problems in the blood vessels that supply the placenta can lead to miscarriage, especially if the blood clots more than it should.
Minor infections like coughs and colds are not harmful, but a very high temperature and some illnesses or infections, such as German measles, may cause miscarriage.
A weak cervix may open as the uterus becomes heavier in later pregnancy. An irregularly shaped uterus may not have enough room for a baby to grow. Large fibroids (harmless growths in the uterus) may also cause miscarriage later in pregnancy.
Moreover, if a miscarriage happens during the second trimester (between weeks 14 and 26), it’s sometimes the result of an underlying health condition in the mother.
A number of miscarriage tests are available, which include chromosome analysis, blood clot analysis and NK killer cells. These tests tend to be on the expensive side (£300–600). If you are considering these, we would be able to discuss and organise them with you.
Read more on our blog page.
Conventional medicine believes that the majority of miscarriages can’t be prevented. The focus is on advising lifestyle changes in an attempt to reduce chance of future miscarriages.
As chromosome problems are the leading cause of miscarriage, and half of a developing baby’s chromosomes come from the mother, and the half from the father, at TCM Healthcare, we focus our efforts in improving egg and sperm quality.
Two things are certain:
Chromosomal abnormalities in eggs increase significantly with ageing
Poor egg quality is often related to chromosomal abnormalities (aneuploidy)
Hormonal imbalance is often the underlying reason for poor quality eggs. Imbalance of hormones means the egg maturation process is given the wrong signals throughout or in part of its maturation process leading to poor egg quality, failed fertilisation or early miscarriages.
Women who have irregular periods are more likely to miscarry. Our focus here is to help women to achieve a more balanced hormonal system, which in turn will ensure more regular periods. We use a combination of carefully chosen natural herbs to nuture the organ systems, namely glands, that produce hormones. When the glands function better, a more balanced hormone system would be achieved.
Research over the past decade suggests that some cases of recurrent miscarriages seem to involve the father having a high incidence of abnormal chromosomes in his sperm. There is no precise estimate for how frequently sperm is a factor, but DNA fragmentation or chromosome problems in sperm are regarded as potential causes of repeat losses, especially in men whose sperm show abnormal morphology or other markers of low fertility.
Patients bring us their most recent hormone test results (Female Fertility Profile test, sperm test or DNA Fragmentation test) that are less than 3 months old. If you have not done them yet, or if they need updating, we can help arrange these tests quickly. We do a first consultation lasting 30 to 40 minutes, in which we do non-invasive and pain-free Chinese medical diagnostic procedures, in order to understand your particular condition and circumstances thoroughly.
Our specialist prescribes a unique herbal formula, usually consisting of around 20 kinds of herbs, from which you will make drinks and consume twice a day for 18 to 24 days in a month.
A month after the first consultation, you will be done with the first round of herbal remedy. We do a second consultation, lasting 30 minutes, doing another diagnostic procedure to see how well you’ve responded to the treatment. Another prescription will be written.
This monthly cycle will repeat 3 or 4 times before you are asked to have another hormone or sperm test carried out. Most patients see significant improvements. They then pursue a number of options, whether that’s working with us for a few more months to try to achieve pregnancy, or combining our treatment with another IVF cycle.
The fees come to about £480 to £530 a month on average. Given our success rate, the fees of our treatment programme compares very favourably with IVF — all 3 courses (9 months) of our treatment comes out to be around £4,500 whereas the minimum all-inclusive fee for one IVF cycle stands at £6,000.
Once a month. Most patients come from 3 to 9 months. Some combine our treatment with further IVF cycles.
A traditional Chinese medical consultation involves the following steps.
The practitioner may scrutinise your complexion, eyes, tongue, and movements to gain insight into how your organs are functioning. The tongue is a particularly important source of information, and its colour, body, coating, and moisture will all be taken into account.
The practitioner assesses the patient’s energy and general condition by taking into account your body heat, odour, skin sensitivity, and uses other senses to gain an insight into the your condition.
To gain a full picture, the practitioner will ask detailed questions about your complaint and your medical history. They will want to find out whether your problems vary at all according to the time of year and your diet, feelings or emotions.
This can provide a highly sensitive and detailed picture of your general health. The practitioner will take a number of different ‘pulses’ using three fingers put on the wrist of each hand of the patient. This enables him to gain further information about the quality and functioning of the five major organs. The practitioner will take account of your general health and strength, as well as all of your symptoms, whether they seem to you to be connected or not. This will be the basis for deciding on the best treatment.
Monthly consultations are required to gauge your progress. The prescriptions will be devised accordingly — for treating a changing condition, a fixed single herb or formula is unlikely to be effective over time.
Patients want to know how long they need to see us for. We say after 3 months of treatment, we will review progress, retesting hormones and check subjective experience, such as period cycle regularity and sexual interest. If they are at normal levels, we discharge the patients.
If they are better but still need further improvement, patients may need second course of treatment at the same or less intensity.
Typically, women see us for 3 courses of treatment, ie 9 months total.
The point is that the way we treat patients means they should not rely on our treatment for too long. Their improved health and function should stay with them if they look after their health.
We have just launched a second opinion service where you can send us your hormone test results, sperm test results and other results. Consultations will be done on the phone and it will not be a face-to-face medical consultation.
Since we work with IUI, IVF, ICSI, egg and sperm freezing specialists, we can explore a full range of options with you prior to your committing to a course of actions that may be best for you. There is no charge for this service.
We offer this service in good faith based on our clinical experience and our work with partner agencies such as IVF specialists. We do not accept any liability and we will urge you to triangulate opinions given with your own doctors before you decide what may be best for your circumstance.
Call us any time on 0207 096 0283 or fill out our enquiry form.
We would like to see the following test results (less than 3 months old):
If you have not done them yet, we can arrange them for you. Results come out in 1–3 days.
A booking fee of £100 (refunded when you attend) will be processed at booking.
Late cancellation fee £50
We appreciate that you might not be well or have urgent matters to attend. As a result you may have to postpone the appointment. We would like to have at least 24 hours' advance notice. A late cancellation fee of £50 is payable if advance notice is not given.
Yes. No medical system is foolproof and medical practitioners, however good, are not omnipotent. As great as our success rates are, they are not 100%. There are times patients do not respond to our treatments despite our best efforts.
Delayed improvements are possible when patients rest a little. However, even with rest, patients may still not respond well. Fortunately, these cases are in the minority. We minimise the number of these cases by trying to understand our patients’ conditions as much as possible before taking them on. We minimise time and financial commitments from patients by insisting they have hormone or sperm test results prior to treatment, and to get retested after 3 months — following our evidence-based approach.
At TCM Healthcare, we will always have your best interests in mind and we will do our best.
