Definition

Noun: 1. Repeated, spontaneous miscarriage: A medical condition characterized by the occurrence of three or more consecutive, spontaneous pregnancy losses (miscarriages) before 20 weeks of gestation, often without a clearly identifiable cause.

Usage

The term is a specific medical diagnosis used to describe a pattern of pregnancy loss. It is typically used in clinical and medical contexts. - The patient's history of habitual abortion requires a thorough medical investigation to identify potential underlying causes. - After experiencing her third consecutive miscarriage, she was diagnosed with habitual abortion.

Advanced Usage

• The term is sometimes considered outdated in favor of more precise, descriptive phrases like "recurrent pregnancy loss" or "recurrent miscarriage," which carry less historical stigma.
• It is a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning other potential causes for individual miscarriages (like isolated genetic abnormalities) must be ruled out before this pattern is established.

Variants and Related Words

• Recurrent miscarriage (n): A more modern and commonly used synonym for habitual abortion.
• Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) (n): The contemporary clinical term for the condition, often preferred over "habitual abortion."
• Spontaneous abortion (n): The medical term for a single, natural miscarriage.

Synonyms

• Recurrent miscarriage
• Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL)
• Repeated miscarriage

Notes on Meaning

• The term specifically refers to spontaneous (natural, uninduced) losses, not elective or therapeutic terminations.
• It implies a consecutive pattern of loss, not just a total number of miscarriages over time.
• The "often for no known reason" part of some definitions highlights that a specific cause is not always found despite evaluation.

Noun

1. repeated spontaneous abortion (often for no known reason)