What are the most common causes of miscarriages in the first trimester?

In general the risk of pregnancy loss increases when maternal age approaches her late 30s and beyond. Without knowing the details of your circumstances, general advice would be to maintain an normal BMI as maternal obesity or being significantly underweight is associated with obstetric complications. Also avoid excessive alcohol consumption and exposure to cigarette smoke. For the male partner, watch issues like smoking, alcohol consumption , exercise habits and body weight as these can affect sperm quality.

I understand your concerns completely. It used to be that tests were done when there were more than 3 consecutive miscarriages- the medical definition for recurrent miscarriage. But I think having 2 consecutive miscarriages is emotionally traumatic enough and I have now initiated investigations when there have been 2 consecutive miscarriages. I have a standard blood profile called the Recurrent Miscarriage Profile which I do in these circumstances. Basically, you are trying to establish whether there is what I call a “rejection phenomena”.