We are sorry to hear of your miscarriage.

As you note, for a miscarriage more than 40 days after conception, a woman follows laws similar to those after childbirth. If the fetus was female or the gender is unknown, she may immerse in the mikveh only after 14 days have elapsed. If the fetus is known to be male, the waiting period is only 7 days from the miscarriage. In both cases, the woman needs to perform a hefsek taharah and count seven clean days.

It is more difficult to determine whether the 14-day wait applies when fetal development stops significantly earlier than 40 days after conception. The answer often depends on the specific details. In practice, the difference in mikveh timing between the two scenarios would usually be no more than two days, since many women count five days minimum before counting the seven clean days, for a minimum total of 12 days.

It is fairly common, though, for bleeding to continue for at least 7 days after pregnancy loss, so that there is no practical difference in mikveh timing. That is the case for you at this point. You will be permitted to immerse at earliest opportunity once you can perform a hefsek taharah and count seven clean days.

Pregnancy loss is unfortunately very common. You might find it helpful to see our article on it here.

Please feel free to get back to us with any further questions. We wish you a refuah sheleimah, refuat hanefesh and refuat haguf – a full recovery, body and soul.