When a miscarriage isn't a fluke

There's no consensus among doctors about when miscarriages go from being a fluke that most likely won't happen again to being a pattern that needs investigating. This can leave many patients like Arnold at a loss for what to do.

In 2001, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists devised guidelines for doctors on how to manage recurrent pregnancy loss, but the group rescinded those guidelines last year and has not replaced them, according to Greg Phillips, a spokesman for ACOG.

"This can be very frustrating for patients," says Dr. Elwyn Grimes, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth. "There's no easy answer. I tell patients to go on the Internet and do their own research and lay it all on the table for the doctor, and to just persevere finding a doctor who can help them."

Miscarriages often a random event

Many times when a woman has a miscarriage, it truly is a roll of the dice -- an unfortunate