It's Time to Stop Excluding Early Pregnancy (Losses)

Current guidelines for the care of recurrent pregnancy loss patients in New Zealand typically limit the definition to clinical pregnancies. This approach is not supported by the available evidence, which shows that very early losses are just as prognostically important as clinical losses. Clinical pregnancy is a biologically meaningless construct and is not a suitable method for determining whether a loss is 'valid' or not. The exclusion extends to clinical trials, where treatment is often not initiated until clinical pregnancy has been established. Treatment opportunities are being missed as a result. This exclusion of early pregnancy needs to stop.