Breakthrough womb lining test offers new hope to women facing miscarriage risk

Key Summary

• Warwick University developed a test to spot womb lining issues causing miscarriage
• Piloted on 1,000 patients, it identifies linings that stop embryo growth
• The goal is to create treatments to prevent pregnancy loss

Recurrent miscarriage is an alarming crisis in the health sector with around one in six pregnancies currently failing in less than 12 weeks.

This has led to Warwick University developing an innovative womb lining test to study this tendency further. It is a cutting-edge discovery as most studies focus on embryo quality, while they emphasise on the womb lining.

The test was piloted to help more than 1,000 patients at Tommy's National Centre for Miscarriage Research at University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire (UHCW).

The scientists behind the research say the test recognises wombs with abnormal lining that causes repeated pregnancy loss.

They say that certain womb linings do not support the growth of the embryo in the natural way. Embryos growing in these abnormal condition cause bleeding and miscarriage.

A woman with a faulty womb lining could have multiple failed pregnancies until the issue is solved.

“Miscarriages are not merely bad luck, the actual reason may be within the womb itself,” said Dr Jo Muter, researcher at the university.

The next step of the study aims to find potential drugs for this condition, Dr Muter added.