Blood clots and miscarriages can be indistinguishable for some, although they are very different from each other. Blood clots are significantly different from miscarriages because they are usually smaller. Even the causes of each can be distinct, but so can the concerns associated with them. Yet, people tend to misunderstand them as similar.
Blood Clot vs Miscarriage
The main 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 to be red, while miscarriage seems to be grayish tissue along with red blood clots. Finally, an ultrasound scan shows that blood clots have black spots, whereas a miscarriage ultrasound shows white areas.
A blood clot is thick and sticky clumps 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 to be red, although an ultrasound scan shows blood clots have black areas.
Miscarriage is a disrupted pregnancy where the fetus couldn’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 grayish tissue along with red blood clots, although an ultrasound scan shows white areas.
Comparison Table Between Blood Clot and Miscarriage
| Parameters of comparison | Blood clot | Miscarriage |
| Definition | A blood clot is thick and sticky clumps of dried blood. | Miscarriage is a disrupted pregnancy where the fetus couldn’t survive before birth. |
| Experience by what % | Blood clots are experienced by every woman during their periods. | Miscarriages are only experienced by 20% of women. |
| Reason | Blood clots can be caused due to their unhealthy lifestyle, such as cervix disorders, hormonal disturbance, uterine fibroids, etc. | Miscarriages can be caused by abnormalities, intake of a toxic substance, structural features of the uterus, etc. |
| Color | 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. It is experienced by many women during their periods. Some women may have experienced it, while some may have not. However, it is somewhat common 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 sedentary lifestyle, hormonal imbalance, uterine cervix disorder, intrauterine devices, etc.
Additionally, if factors or reasons for the formation are briefly explained, then one of the major reasons is a sedentary lifestyle. A sedentary lifestyle impacts a woman’s health as blood gets retained in the vagina due to low physical activity, thereby clots are formed.
Another reason is uterine cervix disorder that leads to the formation of blood clots and it may be developed due to a bad lifestyle, genetics, abortion, etc. Also, hormonal imbalance can lead to developing blood clots as increased levels of hormones result in endometrial growth.
Besides these reasons, there can be other reasons as well, such as the presence of intrauterine devices, polyps in the uterus, uterine fibroids, low hemoglobin, etc. Moreover, it appears to be red, although an ultrasound scan shows blood clots have black areas.
What is Miscarriage?
Miscarriage is defined as disrupted pregnancy where the fetus couldn’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 usually before the 20th gestation week. Yet, it can also happen 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 vaginal 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, it starts, and it is followed by bright red or pink discharge along with blood clots for 2 to 3 days. Thereafter, small kidney-shaped gray tissue discharges and it 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 somewhat 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 miscarriage is a disrupted pregnancy where the fetus couldn’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, intake of a toxic substance, structural features of the uterus, etc.
- Blood clots appear to be red, while miscarriage appears to be grayish tissue along with red blood clots.
- An ultrasound scan shows blood clots have black areas, while an ultrasound scan shows white areas in miscarriage.
Conclusion
Blood clots and miscarriages might be difficult to distinguish since they resemble each other in appearance. They are, however, significantly distinct from one another. There are some similarities, yet they are vastly distinct. Miscarriage causes tissue and blood clots, but not the other way around.
A blood clot is a clump of dried blood that is thick and sticky. Every woman has probably had blood clots during her period. It happens as a result of an unhealthy lifestyle, cervical abnormalities, hormonal disturbances, uterine fibroids, and other factors. Furthermore, it seems to be red, even though blood clots have black areas on an ultrasound image.
A miscarriage occurs when a pregnancy is disturbed and the fetus is unable to survive before birth. Miscarriage affects only 20% of pregnant women. It occurs as a result of defects, ingestion of a hazardous drug, anatomical aspects of the uterus, and other factors. Furthermore, although an ultrasound scan shows white areas, it looks to be greyish tissue with red blood clots.
References
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1521693409000467
- https://europepmc.org/article/med/17323826