What pregnant women need to know...

Uterine fibroids don’t cause miscarriage

Many women have a fibroid or two, I have five. Among 5,500 women taking part in a study of health during early pregnancy, just over 10% had at least one fibroid detected by an ultrasound scan. Although a similar proportion of women had a miscarriage, there was no link between the two conditions.

After adjustment for maternal age, ethnicity, alcohol use, and prior termination of pregnancy, the presence of a fibroid had no influence on the risk of miscarriage. Current views about surgical removal of fibroids before a pregnancy is undertaken may need to be re-evaluated.