If you miscarry at home, your doctor or specialist may have asked you to collect your pregnancy tissue for testing. In very early pregnancy, you are likely to pass blood, small clots, and possibly a small pregnancy sac. In later pregnancy, however, you may pass pregnancy tissue that looks like an early baby (foetus).

How do I keep my baby’s remains for testing?

It is best to ask your doctor or specialist how they would like the pregnancy tissue collected, stored and brought to the hospital or clinic.  The advice provided below is general in nature only. It’s important to know that even though you may be able to collect your pregnancy tissue, the sample may not be sufficient or suitable for accurate testing.

• 1. Collect the pregnancy tissue in a sterile container

  Your doctor or specialist may have provided you with a sterile container and gloves to collect a sample of the pregnancy tissue.  A large amount of pregnancy tissue will be passed during your miscarriage and it is not necessary to collect it all – only a sample.

  If your doctor didn’t provide you with a container, try to collect it in as sterile or clean a container as possible.  You may need to firstly collect the tissue in a bowl placed under the toilet seat.

• 2. Store the sample in the fridge

  It is important to store the pregnancy tissue sample in the fridge and NOT the freezer while you wait to get it to the hospital or your doctor.

• 3. Take the pregnancy tissue sample to your doctor as soon as possible

  The pregnancy tissue needs to be taken to your doctor or the hospital as soon as possible and within 12 hours of collection.

Finding out your test results

If you do find out that you have experienced a miscarriage due to genetic reasons, it can be very distressing. Research tells us that around 50-80% of miscarriages result from chromosomal abnormalities, most of which are spontaneous abnormalities (rather than hereditary). It is essential to discuss this with a genetic counsellor who can help you assess your risk of genetic disorders in future pregnancies and how you might decide about future pregnancies.

•   Genetics services Australia

If testing doesn’t find the cause or shows no chromosomal abnormalities were present it can be equally distressing.  Finding this out can leave people feeling or wondering what they did wrong or if they somehow caused the miscarriage.  But we know that it is highly unlikely you did or could have done anything different to prevent it.  There are a range of support services available if you need to talk to someone.