Despite HSV being a very common infection, doctors don’t believe that the virus causes miscarriages in most cases.
Some research shows that women with unexplained recurrent miscarriages are more likely to have an undetected HSV infection than women with no history of miscarriage. However, it’s unknown if the virus actually plays a role in causing miscarriages for those women.
Most women who are infected with HSV do not have recurrent miscarriages, so doctors need to conduct more research on the matter.
Similarly, a few researchers have found evidence that the virus could cross the placenta and lead to damage of the placenta, potentially increasing the risk of late pregnancy loss.
Doctors don’t understand what factors cause this to happen, given that the majority of infected women do not have this problem.