Your pregnancy is viable if the baby is alive, developing properly, and the pregnancy is able to continue all the way until your baby is ready to be born. A miscarriage is any unintentional loss of your child before he or she is able to survive outside of the womb.

What determines if a pregnancy is viable?

From a clinical perspective, a viable pregnancy is one in which the baby can be born and have a reasonable chance of survival. By contrast, a nonviable pregnancy is one in which the fetus or baby has no chance of being born alive.

How do you know if you have a silent miscarriage?

A missed miscarriage is most often diagnosed by ultrasound before 20 weeks gestation. Usually, the doctor diagnoses it when they cannot detect a heartbeat at a prenatal checkup. Sometimes, its simply too early in the pregnancy to see a heartbeat.