What is recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL)?

This is a condition when a woman has 2 or more clinical pregnancy losses (miscarriages) before the pregnancies reach 20 weeks, this is considered recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). Loss of a “clinical pregnancy” is diagnosed by a health-care provider using ultrasound. In most cases, a pregnancy can be seen with ultrasound as early as 5-6 weeks’ gestational age (or 1-2 weeks after a missed period). A “biochemical pregnancy” loss is one that has been detected only by urine or blood hormone testing before disappearing. Biochemical losses are not usually included in making an RPL diagnosis.