"Super-fertility" may explain why some women have multiple miscarriages, according to a team of doctors.
They say the wombs of some women are too good at letting embryos implant, even those of poor quality which should be rejected.
The UK-Dutch study published in the journal PLoS ONE said the resulting pregnancies would then fail.
One expert welcomed the findings and hoped a test could be developed for identifying the condition in women.
Recurrent miscarriages - losing three or more pregnancies in a row - affect one in 100 women in the UK.
Doctors at Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton and the University Medical Center Utrecht, took samples from the wombs of six women who had normal fertility and six who had had recurrent miscarriages.
Quality testing
High or low-quality embryos were placed in a channel created between two strips of the womb cells.
Cells from women with normal fertility started to grow and reach out towards the high-quality embryos. Poor-quality embryos were ignored.
However, the cells of women who had recurrent miscarriages started to grow towards both kinds of embryo.
Prof Nick Macklon, a consultant at the Princess Anne Hospital, said: "Many affected women feel guilty that they are simply rejecting their pregnancy.
"But we have discovered it may not be because they cannot carry, [but] it is because they may simply be super-fertile, as they allow embryos which would normally not survive to implant."
He added: "When poorer embryos are allowed to implant, they may last long enough in cases of recurrent miscarriage to give a positive pregnancy test."
This theory still needs further testing and will not explain all miscarriages.
Dr Siobhan Quenby, from the Royal College Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, told the BBC: "This theory is really quite attractive. It is lovely. It's a really important paper that will change the way we think about implantation."
"It had been thought that rejecting normal embryos resulted in miscarriage, but what explains the clinical syndrome is that everything is being let in."
She said research would now need to discover whether this could be tested for in women and whether their receptiveness to embryos could be altered.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Tags:
Latest Stories
-
Nigerians mourn woman allegedly beheaded by gospel singer
1 minute -
Sudan shelling kills more than 100 civilians near capital
9 minutes -
Mahama hits the ground running: Key reforms and directives in first days of office
13 minutes -
Relatives wait for news as body bags hauled from South African mine
20 minutes -
Kate reveals she is in remission from cancer
40 minutes -
UK’s Treasury minister resigns over anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh
53 minutes -
Fire Service calls for installation of fire extinguishers, detectors at marketplaces
55 minutes -
Kofi Adu Domfeh: Prayers for rain in LA and the call for climate action
57 minutes -
Don’t appoint Bawku or Kusasi native as U/E Regional Minister – Asamoah Boateng advises Mahama on averting dispute
1 hour -
Bono COCOBOD seizes trucks loaded with bags of cocoa, lumber
2 hours -
Recent Appointment Committees have become a theatre – Draman
2 hours -
Mahama appoints Justina Nelson as Acting CEO of MIIF
2 hours -
Tribunal system was evil, why does Mahama gov’t want it back? – Ansa-Asare
2 hours -
Kurt Okraku files nomination for CAF Executive Committee position
3 hours -
Criminologist urges police to engage communities to prevent attacks on security personnel
3 hours