Recommendation two: officially record miscarriage and pregnancy loss

Tommy’s has long been campaigning to have every pregnancy loss recorded, and we have joined them in that endeavor. There’s no official record so we have no data on just how common these losses are; women don’t have miscarriage automatically recorded on their medical notes, which means that they’re forced to regurgitate the same painful story again and again – whether that’s to their GP, the ‘booking in’ midwife when they conceive again or to the sonographer when having a pre-referral fertility check.

We want to see all pregnancy loss recorded nationally, at the point of diagnosis. A simple change could also be putting a red sticker on women’s blue pregnancy notes to indicate that a loss has occurred. That saves them from having to tell their story again during that cycle.

Recommendation three: separate spaces to be created for those on the miscarriage pathway within early pregnancy units

Space is at a premium in hospitals, but those going through pregnancy loss need to be seated away from women waiting for dating scans and other procedures. It’s inappropriate to have grieving and expectant parents sharing the same room. We suggest that separate waiting rooms be made available within early pregnancy units so that anyone on the pregnancy loss pathway can avoid any unnecessary distress.

Howell seconds this proposal: “The environment [within hospitals] can sometimes be inadvertently insensitive, with women experiencing loss being placed alongside expectant mothers in waiting rooms. That only amplifies their emotional pain.”

Miscarriage care is failing us all – these are our 4 recommendations for improving it for everyone