Blood clots and miscarriages can be indistinguishable for some, although they are very different. Blood clots are significantly different from miscarriages because they are smaller.
Even the causes of each can be distinct, but so can the associated concerns. Yet, people tend to misunderstand them as similar.
Key Takeaways
- Blood clots occur when blood thickens and forms a solid mass, while miscarriages result from losing a pregnancy before the 20th week.
- Blood clots can be life-threatening if they travel to the lungs, heart, or brain, but miscarriages do not risk the mother’s life.
- Treatment for blood clots involves anticoagulant medications or surgery, while miscarriages may require medical or surgical intervention to prevent complications.
Blood Clot vs Miscarriage
The difference between blood clots and miscarriage is that blood clot is thick and sticky clumps of dried blood. Meanwhile, miscarriage is a disrupted pregnancy where the fetus is incompetent to survive before birth. Secondly, every woman suffers from blood clots throughout her period. Miscarriages, on the other hand, occur in only 20% of women. Thirdly, blood clots can be caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, such as cervical diseases, hormonal imbalances, uterine fibroids, and so on. Miscarriages, on the other hand, might be caused by anomalies, toxic drug ingestion, uterine anatomical features, and so on. Fourthly, blood clots appear red, while miscarriage seems to be greyish tissue along with red blood clots. Finally, an ultrasound scan shows blood clots have black spots, whereas a miscarriage ultrasound shows white areas.
A blood clot is a thick and sticky clump of dried blood. Every woman must have experienced blood clots during their periods.
As for the reason for the occurrence, it occurs due to an unhealthy lifestyle, cervix disorders, hormonal disturbance, uterine fibroids, etc. Moreover, it appears red, although an ultrasound scan shows blood clots have black areas.
Miscarriage is a disrupted pregnancy where the fetus can’t survive before birth. Only 20% of women experience miscarriages.
As for the reason for the occurrence, it occurs due to abnormalities, intake of a toxic substance, structural features of the uterus, etc. Moreover, it appears to be greyish tissue along with red blood clots, although an ultrasound scan shows white areas.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of comparison | Blood clot | Miscarriage |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Miscarriage is a disrupted pregnancy where the fetus can’t survive before birth. | An experience by what % |
| Blood clots areEvery woman experiences blood clotseriods. | Abnormalities, intake of a toxic substance, structural features of the uterus, etc can cause miscarriages. | Miscarriages are only experienced by 20% of women. |
| Reason | Colour | Miscarriages can be caused by abnormalities, intake of a toxic substance, structural features of the uterus, etc. |
| Miscarriage appears to be greyish tissue along with red blood clots. | Blood clots appear to be red. | Miscarriage appears to be grayish tissue along with red blood clots. |
| Ultrasound results | An ultrasound scan shows blood clots have black areas. | An ultrasound scan shows white areas in miscarriage. |
What is a Blood Clot?
Blood clots are defined as thick and sticky clumps of dried blood. Many women experience it during their periods. Some women may have experienced it, while some may have not. However, it is somewhat familiar for women in their periods.
Although, it may happen in different places as well. But usually, a lot of women see blood clots during their period.
Many factors result in the formation of blood clots, such as a sedentary lifestyle, hormonal imbalance, uterine cervix disorder, intrauterine devices, etc.
Additionally, if factors or reasons for the formation are briefly explained, a sedentary lifestyle is one of the primary reasons. A sedentary lifestyle impacts a woman’s health as blood gets retained due to low physical activity; thereby, clots are formed.
Another reason is uterine cervix disorder, which leads to blood clots, forming and may develop due to a sinful lifestyle, genetics, abortion, etc.
Also, hormonal imbalance can lead to developing blood clots as increased levels of hormones result in endometrial growth.
Besides these, there can be other reasons, such as the presence of intrauterine devices, polyps in the uterus, uterine fibroids, low haemoglobin, etc.
Moreover, it appears red, although an ultrasound scan shows blood clots have black areas.
What is Miscarriage?
Miscarriage is defined as disrupted pregnancy where the fetus can’t survive before birth and is ejected from the uterus before developing. Usually, it happens before the 20th gestational week.
However, miscarriages are very common, as 20% of the women have experienced a miscarriage when they knew they were pregnant. Besides, it is also frequent in women who didn’t detect their pregnancy, as early miscarriages are also common.
And one of the statistics shows that 80% of miscarriages happen before the 20th gestational week. Additionally, factors affecting and reasons behind miscarriages have a broad spectrum, from genetics to lifestyles.
One of the reasons for the occurrence of miscarriage is abnormalities in the uterus, intake of toxic substances, structural features of the uterus, etc. Generally, 95% of genetic and embryonic abnormalities result in miscarriages.
Although, miscarriage happens at an early stage, before the 20th gestation week. Yet, it can also occur due to arrhythmia after the development of the embryo in the uterus.
How can it be detected? It happens along with acute abdominal pain and bleeding—additionally, unbearable cramps in the abdomen to the legs and thighs. Even severe back pain and heavy bleeding can be experienced.
With the brown discharge, starts, and it is followed by bright red or pink shot along with blood clots for 2 to 3 days.
After that, small kidney-shaped grey tissue discharges, and can also discharge as a ball-shaped sac if the pregnancy is beyond 6-8 weeks.
Main Differences Between Blood Clot and Miscarriage
Blood clots and miscarriages can be confusing as they look exactly like each other. Yet, they are very different from each other.
There’re similarities, but they are very different from each other. Miscarriage results in tissue along with blood clots, but it is not vice versa.
- A blood clot is thick and sticky clumps of dried blood, while a miscarriage is a disrupted pregnancy where the fetus can’t survive before birth.
Blood clots are experienced by every woman during their periods. Meanwhile, miscarriages are only experienced by 20% of women.
Blood clots can be caused due to their unhealthy lifestyle, such as cervix disorders, hormonal disturbance, uterine fibroids, etc. Meanwhile, miscarriages can be caused by abnormalities, toxic substance intake, structural features of the uterus, etc.
Blood clots appear to be red, while miscarriage appears to be greyish tissue along with red blood clots.
An ultrasound scan shows blood clots have black areas, while an ultrasound scan shows white areas in miscarriage.
References
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1521693409000467
- https://europepmc.org/article/med/17323826
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This is informative, I appreciate the details and differences highlighted.
Agreed. I think many people get confused between the two. This clears things up.
Nice detailed comparison, it helps clear up the misconceptions.
I think this article could help raise awareness, well done.
The information here is presented clearly and concisely. Great article overall.
Yes, I found this article very insightful. Thanks for sharing.
I totally agree. Well researched and well written.
I believe the content is misleading and some points are not accurate.
I disagree. I think the references support the facts stated in the article.
The tone is very serious and formal. It could be more engaging if written in a more lively manner.
Great article! I always thought both were similar, but reading this I learned a lot
Yeah, that’s true. This is interesting.