Thousands of women could be spared the heartbreak of serial miscarriages thanks to a breakthrough by British doctors.
The Warwick University medics believe they have found the root cause of the devastating condition, paving the way for inexpensive treatments.
Researcher Siobhan Quenby, who aims to have a test and treatment available within five years, said: 'Recurrent miscarriage is incredibly destructive. This offers real hope.'
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Breakthrough: Scientists believe they have found the root cause of miscarriages in a discovery that could lead to inexpensive treatments
One in 100 women trying to start a family suffers from recurrent miscarriage, defined as losing at least three pregnancies in a row. Blood tests flag up the cause in 15 to 20 per cent of women, but in most cases there is nothing doctors can do to help, other than offer more frequent scans.
To find out why some women's pregnancies fail time after time, the researchers looked at the lining of the womb tissue, key to achieving and maintaining a pregnancy. Stem cells in the lining lead to it being constantly replenished and renewed throughout a woman's life.
The women who had suffered recurrent miscarriages had fewer of these cells, and those they did have were genetically different.
As a result, the lining of the womb was older and less able to prepare for pregnancy, the journal Stem Cells reports. Study leader Jan Brosens, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, said: 'We have discovered that the lining of the womb in the recurrent miscarriage patients we studied is already defective before pregnancy.
'I can envisage that we will be able to correct these defects before the patient tries to achieve another pregnancy. In fact, this may be the only way to really prevent miscarriages in these cases.'
The researchers hope to develop a test to determine how many stem cells a woman has in the lining of her womb. They are also poised to run trials of two potential treatments.
In one, women will undergo a slight scratching of the lining of their womb, in a bid to spur sleeping stem cells into action. In the other, they will be given drugs that are already used to treat diabetes and are thought to boost stem cells. Professor Quenby hopes the test and treatment could be offered for under £1,000 a woman, adding: 'That is very, very cheap if we are right – and incredible if the outcome is a baby.'
She said that while most people can cope with one miscarriage, the highs of becoming pregnant only to lose the baby time and time again can be much harder to deal with. Prof Quenby added: 'Recurrent miscarriage can cause an awful amount of suffering and grief, as well as anxiety and depression and time off work for the mother and the father. It is an awful thing to keep going through and there are very few answers at the moment, which is why I hope this is going to be such a big step forward.'
Jane Brewin, chief executive of the baby charity Tommy's, said: 'Finding an underlying cause for miscarriage could revolutionise screening and care and potentially lead to treatments which could prevent couples experiencing recurrent miscarriage which devastates their lives.
'Parents around the UK will now have real hope and that's the most precious gift of all for the many thousands of couples struggling with miscarriage.'
STAR'S SHOCK CONFESSION OVER HER MISCARRIED BABY
Nadia Sawalha has opened up about the pain of losing a baby four and a half months into her pregnancy – and storing the foetus in her freezer.
The actress said she felt such a connection with the foetus that she could not bear to let it go.
Nadia Sawalha has opened up about the pain of losing a baby four and a half months into her pregnancy – and storing the foetus in her freezer.
Miss Sawalha, 51, revealed that, having delivered the baby at home, she felt the 'lioness' in her come out and was at a loss knowing that she 'wasn't able to protect' it.
The former EastEnders star made the revelations on ITV's Loose Women chat show yesterday as the panel discussed the topic of continuing a pregnancy when a baby has a fatal defect in order to harvest its organs.
Miss Sawalha, pictured on the show, said she and husband Mark Adderley – with whom she has daughters Maddy, 13, and eight-year-old Kiki – eventually had a burial for the foetus. Referring to organ harvesting, she added: 'I think it's really good to discuss this because I didn't even know you could do that.'
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