Pls help me to prepare next pregnancy - 2 censecutive miscarriages

Hi all. First post I am so thankful that I found this site! 2 years ago when we started planning for a baby, my doctor found out  I am a Thal minor. But she made this a very minor issue because my husband is not. Since then I had 2 miscarriages, every time at the first day of the 5th week. I am always suspicious that there is someting wrong in my body that caused the miscarriages, and now after reading many pregancy posts on this site I am more convinced that my Thal trait is the cause.

From all the posts I read, I know I need to start taking Vit E daily. But I need your advice on folate acid intake. My very recent blood test on folate and B12 is:

Vit B 12 492 pmol/L
Serum Folate>54 nmol/L
Red cell folate 1121 nmol/L

I am currently on multi-vit tablet which gives me 4 mcg B12 and 800mcg folate acid daily. Do I need more folate acid intake?

Another question I want to ask is do I need to see some kind of specialist before my pregnancy or only a family doctor will do? My only concern is both my family doctor and my fertility specialist do not believe and they both have assured me that Thal minor is not an issue. I feel so helpless to find a doctor I can count on

Thank you again for this site. First time in 2 years I feel the hope to have my first baby.

I have no idea. Did the other post help you? *hugs*

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Hi Michelle,

From the experience of others who have reported here, I would suggest 2-5 mg folic acid daily while trying to get pregnant and during pregnancy. Don't go by your tested levels as far as need is concerned. Folic acid, like all B vitamins washes out of the body and needs to be replenished so that there is a constant source available. The B12 dose you are taking is so small that it has almost no value. B12 washes out of the body so rapidly, that supplementing at low doses is of little value. I would suggest getting a B complex 100 supplement. Most important, take 400 IU natural vitamin E (preferably a complex of mixed tocopherols) daily. This can help to counter one of the most commonly seen problems leading to miscarriage in thal minors. As far as a specialist, if your Hb level drops below 9, a consult with a hematologist might be in order, but otherwise you should be OK in the hands of your regular doctor.


For a couple recent reports including reports from women who recently had successful pregnancies see threads at
http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php/topic,4210.0.html and http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php/topic,4222.msg41503.html#msg41503

To review other threads about thal minor pregnancy, see http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php/topic,3041.msg30075.html#msg30075

Thanks so much, Andy. Just talked to my fertility specialist and he insists Thal minor has no direct link to miscarriages. This is the most frustrated thing for a Thal Minor

I agree, Michelle, but I've also heard the same story from hundreds of thal minor women. Thal minors in general have nowhere to turn. So many get so frustrated at the attitude by doctors that it can't possibly be thalassemia that is causing various problems that they just stop talking to their doctors about it. Thal minors have one defective beta globin gene that lead to production of defective red blood cells and also leads to the unmatched alpha globin chains forming tetramers that do cause oxidation. Of course the amounts are much less than with thal major, but all minors have some of this activity, so I don't understand why it is just dismissed as nothing. As long as outdated information that was based on generalizations about thal minors and not science is the status quo, patients will have to make their own efforts to find out what helps their particular situations. Sharing experiences here is one way to do that. I push the importance of diet, nutrition and exercise, all to help counter the physical stresses of thalassemia.

I don't know if it's even worth talking about thal minor to most doctors, since the resource material they have to draw from to provide information about thal minor is almost non-existent. The problems with miscarriage in pregnancy are especially frustrating because so much personal pain is involved for those who experience it. I've been happy to see some reports recently from women who finally had successful pregnancies after prior miscarriages and I think their concentration on making sure they got the proper nutrients during pregnancy has made a difference. Optimizing the production and quality of red blood cells and countering the oxidative stresses should be goals for those with thal minor.

Thanks again, Andy. I truly agree with you. I feel graceful to find this website where I can share with other Thal minors who have more experience of dealing with this genetic issue. I really hope one day our  voice will be big enough to make the world know we deserve better services from the doctor.

I have Beta Thalassemia Minor and have has 3 successful pregnancies! Only one of the three children have Beta Thalassemia Minor and the other two are healthy. I did, however, have two miscarriages as well. I had one at 16 weeks which was very devastating and another at 10 weeks. I know the doctor's say it has nothing to do with Beta Thalassemia, however, I can't help but to disagree. As for the Folic Acid, I took 5 mg per day throughout my pregnancies and it seemed to do well. I had a very low HGB during and after pregnancies but overall everyhting worked out ok. I hope this helps and good luck to you!!