Overview
The medical definition of a pregnancy loss depends upon the gestational age of the pregnancy at the time the loss occurred. A miscarriage is defined as the spontaneous loss of a fetus before the 20th week of pregnancy. Among women who know they are pregnant, about 10% to 25% will have a miscarriage. A loss occurring after the 20th week of pregnancy is labeled a stillbirth. A stillbirth is also referred to as fetal death or intrauterine fetal demise. A late stillbirth occurs after 28 weeks.