I just saw a comment on one of my prior blog entries, in which a woman who was over 40 felt that her miscarriage was caused by a vitamin A supplement that she had taken in early pregnancy. I was sorry to see that -- because she believes she did something that caused her to lose the pregnancy.

Miscarriage is very common -- on average, about 1 in 8 pregnancies ends before the 10th week. Age plays a great role in this risk, though; the chance of miscarriage at 40 is about 1 in 5, and at 45 is 50 percent. The most likely cause of the writer's miscarriage was her age, and that her number came up, not something she ate or didn't eat.

Most first trimester miscarriages occur because the pregnancy isn't developing properly, due to abnormal chromosomes or some other factor outside of anyone's control. Usually a miscarriage isn't due to any failure on the part of the parents, and until you get in the really advanced ages, the likely outcome of the next pregnancy is a normal healthy baby.

If you have a miscarriage, be sure to talk to your practitioner about why it occurred. Parents often harbor thoughts about things they did that they believe led to the loss, but most miscarriages are not preventable. Obtaining accurate information can be a step towards healing and getting ready to try again for the baby of your dreams.