Early Pregnancy hub

Early Pregnancy, Dating and Pregnancy Loss

From the first positive test to the end of the first trimester — how dating works, what the risk numbers really say, and what happens after a loss.

The first twelve weeks generate more searching than any other stretch of a pregnancy, and most of it is about two things: what week am I, and is this normal? These guides answer both without softening the numbers. Pregnancy loss is common, it is almost never caused by anything you did, and the risk falls faster than most people are told.

This hub answers
  • How is a due date actually calculated?
  • What is my miscarriage risk this week?
  • Is this heavy bleed a late period or a loss?
  • When can we try again?
Calm editorial still life representing early pregnancy and dating
6 guides

Everything in this hub

Each guide is written to be read on its own, and every one links back here.

Dating

How to Calculate Your Pregnancy Due Date

A due date is built from a 280-day rule that assumes a 28-day cycle. If your cycle is not 28 days, the standard answer is wrong — and correcting it is straightforward.

  • Naegele's rule: last period plus 280 days. That is the number nearly every due date starts from.
  • The rule assumes a 28-day cycle with ovulation on day 14. A 35-day cycle pushes the true date about a week later.
10 min read 5 questions answered
First trimester

Healthy Natural Pregnancy Tips That Are Worth the Effort

A short list of things that measurably change outcomes, and a clear line between 'natural' meaning sensible and 'natural' meaning unproven.

  • Folic acid to week 12 and vitamin D throughout are the two supplements with clear support. Most others are unnecessary.
  • Keep exercising. 150 minutes of moderate activity a week is the target, and pregnancy is not a reason to stop what you already do.
11 min read 5 questions answered
Risk numbers

Chances of Miscarriage at 6 Weeks — and Every Week After

The number quoted everywhere — one in four — describes the whole first trimester from the start. Once a heartbeat is seen at six weeks, the picture changes substantially.

  • Around 10–20% of clinically recognised pregnancies end in miscarriage; the true figure including very early loss is higher.
  • Once a heartbeat is confirmed at six weeks, the remaining risk falls to roughly 9–10%.
11 min read 5 questions answered
Telling them apart

Miscarriage or Period? How to Tell the Difference

A very early loss and a late, heavy period can look almost identical. There is one reliable way to distinguish them, and it is not the bleeding itself.

  • Without a positive test beforehand, a late heavy period usually cannot be distinguished from a very early loss.
  • A chemical pregnancy is a real pregnancy that ended before around week five — it is common and does not predict future problems.
9 min read 5 questions answered
Recurrent loss

2 Miscarriages in a Row: What Happens Next

Two consecutive losses is now the threshold at which most guidance recommends investigation — and the odds for a next pregnancy remain better than most people expect.

  • Most current guidance defines recurrent loss as two or more consecutive miscarriages, and recommends investigation at that point.
  • After two losses, the chance that the next pregnancy continues is still roughly 75–80%.
11 min read 5 questions answered
Trying again

Getting Pregnant After Miscarriage: Timing and Odds

The advice to wait three to six months has largely been overturned. What replaced it is simpler, and it puts the decision back where it belongs.

  • Ovulation can return within about two weeks of an early loss — pregnancy is possible before your first period.
  • Large cohort studies found no benefit to waiting, and in several, better outcomes among those who conceived within six months.
10 min read 5 questions answered
Start with the dates

Not sure where you are in your cycle?

The calculator gives you an ovulation day, a six-day fertile window and the day to start testing — from your last period and your own cycle length.

Open the ovulation calculator
Keep going

The other two hubs

Ovulation.guide provides general information, not medical advice. See our medical disclaimer.