FRIDAY, Oct. 9 (HealthDay News) -- The current treatments for
women who've had an early miscarriage don't affect their long-term
fertility, new research shows.

About 15 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage in the first
trimester. For decades, standard treatment was surgery to remove tissue
remaining in the uterus, but now many women are offered expectant (watch
and wait) and medical treatment as well, according to background
information in the study.

Previous research found that infection rates are about the same for all
three methods, but little information was available about their long-term
effects on fertility.

The new British study, published online Oct. 9 in the BMJ,
included 762 women who had received surgical, medical or expectant
management for an early miscarriage. Asked about subsequent pregnancies
and live births, 83.6 percent of the women reported a subsequent pregnancy
and 82 percent had had a live birth.

Live birth within five years of miscarriage was reported by 78.7
percent of those who received medical treatment, 79 percent who received
expectant management, and 81.7 percent of those who had had surgery, the
researchers found.

Older women and those who experienced three or more miscarriages were
much less likely to have a subsequent live birth, the study authors
noted.

"Women can be reassured that long-term fertility concerns need not
affect their choice of miscarriage management method," the researchers
concluded.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has
more about miscarriage.