[A note about medical terms: In medical language, “abortion” means the ending of a pregnancy by death and does not indicate the means. This is a hard word to read or hear because if you have suffered the loss of your child, the last thing you want to feel is that someone is accusing you of aborting him. Throughout the site I am not using the technical word abortion, but I am inserting the medical terms below so that if you come across them you will understand what they mean. “Abortion” was hard for me to hear too, and I was used to it.]

Chemical Pregnancy or Early Pregnancy Loss: a miscarriage that occurs before six weeks.

Blighted Ovum or Empty Sac: The gestational sac develops and is able to be seen on ultrasound, but there is no sign of a baby inside the sac. This will only occur very early in pregnancy. Many times women are scheduled for additional ultrasounds because it is possible that the pregnancy is not as far along as thought and thus the baby is not yet visible on ultrasound.

Spontaneous Miscarriage (Spontaneous Abortion): A miscarriage that happens on its own, without medical intervention. This may result in a Complete Miscarriage (Complete Abortion) or an Incomplete Miscarriage (Incomplete Abortion). In the former, everything in the uterus is expelled, including placenta. In the latter the uterus is not fully emptied and usually medical intervention is necessary. Some data suggests that in pregnancies over 12 weeks the placenta is more likely to be retained. It is necessary to completely empty the uterus to avoid hemorrhage and infection. An incomplete miscarriage that results in infection is called a Septic Abortion. There is a risk that this can progress to a life-threatening condition called septicemia (“all over” infection).

Missed Miscarriage (Missed Abortion): The baby has died (or only a sac is seen) but the actual miscarriage has not yet begun. Many miscarriages are actually “missed” at some point, but the miscarriage process begins before this is detected. Waiting for miscarriage to begin on its own is considered a natural miscarriage (to be discussed more below).

Threatened Miscarriage: There are signs that a miscarriage may be in progress or may take place, but it is not certain. Some pregnancies progress normally after this diagnosis and some end in miscarriage. Sometimes (depending on gestation) women are put on bed rest at this point.

Ectopic Pregnancy (Tubal Pregnancy): The baby has implanted outside of the uterus, usually in one of the fallopian tubes. The fallopian tube is very small and not capable of distention past about 8 weeks (there are always exceptions) with most ectopic pregnancies being detected by 6 weeks. Ectopic pregnancies are considered completely non-viable pregnancies, the continuing of which will endanger the life of the mother. If the tube ruptures, apart from severe pain, the woman may have heavy bleeding to the point of going into shock. This also eliminates one tube which will lessen her chances of conceiving in the future. Depending on the size of the baby, medication (methotrexate) may be given to end the pregnancy (the woman will experience bleeding similar to a regular early miscarriage) or, if too large, surgery may be done to remove the tube and baby. Time is considered of the essence in this situation. (More information on ectopic pregnancies can be found in the medical and surgical sections below.)

Stillbirth: The delivery of an infant who died either in utero or during the process of birth. In Australia this is defined as 20 weeks gestation and beyond. In the UK, this is defined as 24 weeks and beyond. WHO defines this as 24 weeks and beyond. In the US, there doesn’t seem to be an “official” definition, but it is commonly assumed to be 20 weeks and beyond.