A miscarriage is the natural loss of a babybefore the twentieth week of pregnancy.Experts say many pregnancies end before a womaneven knows she was pregnant.Up to twenty percent of known pregnanciesend in a miscarriage.Miscarriages are generally caused by genetic problemswith the baby that prevent it from developing.But whatever the cause,the loss of a pregnancy can be heartbreaking.And sometimes the advice that women receiveafter a miscarriage can also be heartbreaking.Some women are told to waitbefore they try to get pregnant again.A two thousand five reportfrom the World Health Organizationadvised waiting at least six months.Some doctors advise women to wait even longer.But a Scottish study published in twenty-tenfound no need to delay.Researchers from the University of Aberdeenexamined the medical records of thirty thousand women.The women visited Scottish hospitalsbetween nineteen eighty-one and two thousand.They had miscarriages in their first known pregnanciesand became pregnant again.The study found that eighty-five percent of womenwho waited less than six monthsto get pregnant had live births.That compared to seventy-three percent of womenwho waited more than two years.Those who quickly became pregnant againwere less likely to have a dangerous pregnancyform in their fallopian tubes.They were less likely to lose their fetusafter twenty weeks, known as a stillbirth.They were also less likely to give birthby caesarean section.And they had fewer preterm birthsand fewer babies with low birth weight.The study found that about forty percent of womenbecame pregnant again within six months.Twenty-five percent got pregnantwithin six to twelve months.The women who quickly became pregnant againafter a miscarriage were more likely to be older.Older women might be less likely to delaybecause they know there are more riskswith pregnancy the older they get.The twenty-ten report appeared in the BMJ,the British Medical Journal.The researchers pointed out that their resultswere limited to Scottish recordsand could not be generalized to all women.For example, women in developing countriesstart having children at an earlier agethan females in Western countries.And that's the VOA Special English Health Report.Find us online at 51voa.com.