A 'chemical pregnancy'
Blighted ovum
A 'missed miscarriage' is when the baby dies but the woman's cervix stays closed, there is no bleeding and the baby continues to stay inside the uterus. Some people also refer to this as a 'silent miscarriage'. A missed miscarriage is not usually discovered until several days or weeks after the baby has died. The baby does not grow and the size of the woman's uterus does not increase. Some women will notice that their pregnancy signs (tender breasts, nausea, tiredness etc.) disappear, but others will continue to 'feel pregnant' if the placental tissue continues to release hormones into their system (including the hormone that makes a pregnancy test turn 'positive'). A few women will not experience as many early pregnancy discomforts (which can be normal) making their physical changes harder to detect. In many cases, the woman will believe that her pregnancy is progressing, as her body continues to carry the baby, not recognising or reacting to the loss.
After several days or weeks, the woman may start to notice a brownish vaginal discharge as the baby and placenta begin to degenerate, or an ultrasound might be performed before this happens, showing the baby is smaller than expected for the stage of pregnancy, with no heartbeat present . Occasionally, the first sign is bright red vaginal blood loss, because the miscarriage is becoming 'inevitable' with possibly some cramping and 'period-like' pain.
Once the baby dies with a missed miscarriage, they start to shrink at the same rate they would have grown had the pregnancy progressed normally. For example, if the baby died at 12 weeks and the miscarriage was found at 14 weeks, the baby usually shrinks to about a 10 week size. The person performing the ultrasound will usually be able to establish approximately when your baby died.