Miscarriage at Two or Three Months, Every Time — How Doctor Zhu Danxi Secured the Fetus with Atractylodes Decoction and Scutellaria Powder

Patient search terms: miscarriage at two or three months of pregnancy / repeated miscarriage / can’t keep a pregnancy / habitual miscarriage / early pregnancy loss / weak body

Medical terms: habitual miscarriage (hua tai) · weak fetal root (tai yuan bu gu) · qi and blood deficiency · internal heat disturbing the fetus

The opening: this problem existed in ancient times — and it is even more common now

The physician in today’s story is Doctor Zhu Danxi of the Yuan dynasty. He had a habit: before presenting a patient, he would first explain the reasoning thoroughly, and only then bring in the case. The condition he addresses today is one that breaks many women’s hearts — the baby suddenly cannot be held at two or three months of pregnancy.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: This condition was very common in ancient times, and it is even more common in modern society. So many women conceive, and then lose the baby at the second or third month — what a pity. In this case Doctor Zhu explains clearly why it happens and what to do about it, and it is worth listening to for every expectant mother and her family.

Who was the patient? A woman surnamed Jia, who could never get past the third month

The patient’s surname was Jia. Her situation was heartbreaking: every single time she became pregnant, she miscarried at around three months — sometimes at one month, sometimes at two, and at the very most she reached three months. It was almost eerily punctual, like clockwork. Her family was desperate, so they asked Doctor Zhu Danxi to see her.

Doctor Zhu explained the principle first: yang bestows, yin transforms — and only then is a fetus formed

Doctor Zhu did not rush to write a prescription. He first explained the underlying reasoning. He said: the formation of a fetus depends on yang bestowing and yin transforming — the man belongs to yang, the woman to yin, and when yin and yang unite, a fetus is formed. But if this woman’s qi and blood are depleted and damaged, if her qi and blood are insufficient, there is not enough nourishment to sustain the fetus — “not enough to feed and nurture it” (bu zu yi rong yang). As a result, the fetus fails to develop normally and cannot hold on by itself.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: It is like planting a young seedling: if you don’t water the soil underneath, the ground is dry, and the seedling slowly withers on its own — the fetus works the same way. When the mother’s qi and blood are insufficient, the fetus receives no nourishment and cannot be kept. So when Doctor Zhu speaks of habitual miscarriage, his first word is “deficiency.”

Beyond deficiency, there is also fire: overwork and anger can both disturb the fetus

In addition to qi and blood deficiency, Doctor Zhu described a second cause: labor and anger wound the emotions. Being pregnant and still going out to work the fields, or working overtime — that is “labor.” Having family conflicts and flying into rages at the slightest thing — that is “anger.” When this happens, internal fire moves — the liver qi cannot flow freely and turns into liver fire, and fire shoots upward.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Why can liver fire harm the fetus? Because the pathway of the liver channel (gan jing) runs right past the uterus — the reproductive system. So very many of women’s problems, especially of the reproductive system, are closely tied to emotions. Before Doctor Zhu, everyone said miscarriage was caused by cold. Doctor Zhu, however, said: the majority of miscarriages are caused by fire — blood deficiency produces deficient heat, liver stagnation produces liver fire, and heat can disturb the fetus.

One pulse reading, and Doctor Zhu understood the situation

Now to the actual consultation. When Doctor Zhu took her pulse, he found that Madam Jia’s left pulse was large but without strength — the pulse felt big, yet when he pressed down firmly there was no power, and it was rough and unsmooth (se), like a light knife scraping across bamboo — hesitant, not flowing. Doctor Zhu concluded on the spot: “I know her blood is scanty” — qi and blood were insufficient, blood deficiency above all.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Why does the pulse get larger when someone is deficient? When the body is extremely weak, it struggles and resists, so the pulse appears large; but press down and the truth is exposed — no strength. So when you diagnose, you must look at the root, not just the surface. A rough, unsmooth pulse means the blood is scanty and not circulating — the same principle.

The prescription: one herb, atractylodes, simmered into a strong decoction, taken with scutellaria powder

It was early summer at the time, and the weather in Jiangnan was already hot. Doctor Zhu’s thinking was very clear: only tonify the middle qi — when spleen qi is fully tonified, it can hold the fetus in place and can transform food into qi and blood, so the blood naturally becomes sufficient. The prescription he wrote is so simple it astonishes later generations: simmer atractylodes (bai zhu) into a strong decoction, and use that decoction to send down powdered scutellaria (huang qin), about three grams.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Bai zhu tonifies the spleen — when the spleen is tonified it can hold things in place and generate qi and blood; a little huang qin is there to clear heat — this woman had heat in her body (liver fire and deficient heat), and heat disturbs the fetus, so it needed to be cleared. Tonify the spleen on one side, clear heat on the other — that simple. Note that pregnant women must be especially cautious with hot herbs: medicines like cinnamon (rou gui) tend to move the fetus and are usually avoided during pregnancy. Always analyze the constitution carefully before prescribing.

Thirty or forty doses later, the baby was kept

With just this one herb of atractylodes and a little scutellaria, after thirty to forty doses the fetus was held firmly this time — the fetus was preserved and born — and at the normal time she delivered her baby smoothly.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Just two ingredients cured such a stubborn problem — this is a true master at work. Notice Doctor Zhu’s prescribing style: he always talked about nourishing the blood, yet what he actually used most were qi-tonifying herbs like ren shen (ginseng) and bai zhu (atractylodes), with a little huang qi (astragalus) and chen pi (tangerine peel) — he placed special weight on tonifying qi and the spleen. When spleen qi is sufficient, it transforms food into qi and blood, and the blood becomes sufficient. The so-called “nourishing the blood” is actually accomplished through tonifying the qi.

The key point: most habitual miscarriages are rooted in deficiency

Doctor Zhu issued a special reminder: among women who habitually miscarry, the majority have internal heat, and the majority have internal heat combined with deficiency. Are there women who suffer from cold? Yes — those have insufficient yang qi. Are there excess patterns? Yes, those exist too. But in clinical practice, the vast majority are deficient — deficiency is the primary cause, and cold or heat are only contributing factors.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: This is Doctor Zhu’s greatest strength as a physician — grasping the big direction. Watch how he resolves the six stagnations: one herb-pair for each type of stagnation. In treating habitual miscarriage, he fixed his eye on the single big direction of “deficiency.” The prescription is simple, the logic clear. When we read case records, we must not skim past “just one herb” — we should ask why he chose that herb. Bai zhu tonifies the spleen, its nature is not hot, it both holds things in place and generates qi and blood — it was the most suitable choice.

A family story: my sister miscarried in Australia, and Western medicine had no answer

After the classical case, Doctor Luo told a story from his own family. His younger sister once lived in Australia, and she miscarried at two months of pregnancy. She went to Australian doctors, who had no solution at all: they only said the fetus had not developed well, the body recognized it and eliminated it on its own — a normal phenomenon, go home and wait. Later she was also diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome; she came back to China, took medication to regulate it, and in the process damaged her kidneys. Doctor Luo first regulated her kidney condition; once the kidneys were better, he thought — she was in her late thirties, nearly forty, and still childless — so he began regulating her constitution.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: At that moment an idea struck me. I remembered the national master of Chinese medicine, Professor Yan Dexin, and his hormone-replacement formula — originally used for children with kidney disease, replacing steroid-hormone therapy with a method of supporting the upright qi to achieve the same effect. I remember the formula very clearly: huai shan yao (Chinese yam), tai zi shen (pseudostellaria), huang qi (astragalus), zi he che (human placenta), he shou wu (fleeceflower root) and gan cao (licorice) — equal parts, ground into powder and filled into capsules. I often added bai zhu (atractylodes) and dang gui (Chinese angelica) as well. One reminder: for he shou wu, you must buy the highest quality from Tong Ren Tang pharmacy — only their properly processed product is non-toxic and safe to take.

His sister took this medicine, and as she kept taking it, she became pregnant — and later gave birth to a daughter. That little niece is now in the seventh grade of middle school, lively and lovely — and an excellent student.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Why does this formula work? It tonifies the spleen and qi: when spleen qi is fully tonified, the body has the strength to nourish the fetus and hold it in place. Why does the formula contain zi he che? Zi he che is the human placenta — it tonifies the primal qi and kidney qi. Modern research has measured it and found it really does contain some hormone-like components, which is why the formula is called the “hormone-replacement formula.” When we study Chinese medicine theory, we should also see how modern research corresponds to it — keep an open mind.

A good formula from later generations: Zi Sheng Wan was originally created to treat miscarriage

In fact, the ancients had many approaches to habitual miscarriage. For example, Wang Kentang’s Zi Sheng Wan (Pill of Nourishing Life) was originally created to treat weak fetal root — miscarriage caused by insufficient spleen qi. The great Ming-dynasty physician Miao Xiyong admired it greatly and often took it himself for health. In the Qing dynasty, Doctor Wu Jutong’s Zhuan Xi Da Sheng Gao (the Great Nourishing Paste) from the Wen Bing Tiao Bian (Systematic Differentiation of Warm Diseases) also focused on tonification — though by then the number of ingredients had grown considerably.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: And Doctor Zhu Danxi? Just one herb — bai zhu — showing you the direction. When we treat illness, we sometimes want to sweep the field with a machine gun; the masters deliver a single thrust to the throat — they select the one most suitable herb, one strike at one point, and the battle is over. This is the highest realm of prescribing.

A final word: women like this are especially numerous today

Doctor Luo says that women today face enormous pressure and busy work schedules, while urban life lacks physical labor — many women are weak, with insufficient upright qi. Once they conceive, the spleen qi is too weak to transform nutrition and sustain the fetus, so the body eliminates the abnormally developing fetus — if you test hormone levels, they are often low, showing that the body’s ability to sustain a fetus is genuinely insufficient. So in ordinary times you should exercise more, nourish the spleen and stomach, and keep the production of qi and blood flowing; women whose primal qi is greatly depleted after childbirth should also regulate and nourish themselves in time. Women are sustained by blood — when blood is deficient, all kinds of illnesses arise. Nourish the spleen and stomach well, keep qi and blood sufficient, and the body can be truly healthy.

What to take away

• Miscarriage at two or three months of pregnancy has been common for centuries — and it is more common today. Doctor Zhu Danxi explained the why and the how with remarkable clarity; his first word is “deficiency.”
• The classical principle: yang bestows, yin transforms. A fetus is formed when yin and yang unite, and it needs the mother’s qi and blood to nourish it. If qi and blood are depleted, the fetus cannot be sustained — like a seedling in dry soil.
• Beyond deficiency, look for fire. Overwork (“labor”) and anger (“rage”) both disturb the fetus: liver qi stagnates into liver fire, and heat stirs the fetus. Doctor Zhu held that the majority of miscarriages are fire-related, not cold-related.
• The pulse tells the truth. A left pulse that feels large but loses all strength on deep pressure, rough and unsmooth like a knife scraping bamboo — that is blood deficiency showing through a deceptive surface.
• The prescription was astonishingly simple: concentrated atractylodes (bai zhu) decoction taken with about three grams of scutellaria (huang qin) powder. Tonify the spleen to hold the fetus and generate qi and blood; clear a little heat to stop it disturbing the fetus. Thirty to forty doses later, she carried to term.
• Doctor Zhu’s style: “nourishing the blood” is done through tonifying qi. His favorite medicines were qi tonics — ginseng, atractylodes, astragalus, tangerine peel — because when spleen qi is sufficient, blood is generated.
• Most habitual miscarriage is rooted in deficiency. Cold and excess patterns exist, but the great majority are deficiency — deficiency is the main cause, cold and heat only contributing factors.
• Modern echo: Professor Yan Dexin’s hormone-replacement formula — Chinese yam, pseudostellaria, astragalus, human placenta, fleeceflower root and licorice, equal parts as powder — helped Doctor Luo’s own sister, who had miscarried in Australia and damaged her kidneys, finally carry a healthy daughter. (For he shou wu, always use properly processed product from a reputable pharmacy.)
• Nourish the body before pregnancy. Women are sustained by blood — exercise, protect the spleen and stomach, keep qi and blood flowing, and restore yourself after childbirth. A well-nourished body is the real foundation for a healthy child.

Compiled from Doctor Luo Dalun’s commentary on Doctor Zhu Danxi’s case record; the original case comes from Ge Zhi Yu Lun (Inquiry into the Properties of Things), essay on miscarriage (Tai Duo Lun), Yuan dynasty.