Doctors call on NHS to offer more help to women after first miscarriage

Doctors say women who lose a baby during pregnancy should be offered help and support after having one miscarriage instead of the three currently needed to trigger NHS support.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) have asked for the NHS to overhaul its rules so that any woman who suffers a miscarriage receives some form of care, guidance and information, to help them cope with their loss and enable them to plan for future pregnancies.

The college have said in a new medical guideline that anyone who has two miscarriages should be offered an appointment for an initial investigation at a specialist miscarriage clinic and a more in-depth exploration of their health after losing a child three times.

Dr Edward Morris, president of the RCOG, said “Miscarriage is a distressing, shocking and traumatic experience for many women and their partners.  For too long the topic has been under-researched and the care for women and their partners under-resourced.

“We believe women should access appropriate and standardised care after their first miscarriage and that is why we are endorsing the graded model for miscarriage care in this guideline.”

Currently around one in 100 women in the UK suffer recurrent miscarriages, according to Tommy’s which support those with high-risk pregnancies and funds research into why so many babies are lost during pregnancy.  It points out that over 60 per cent of women who have recurrent miscarriages go on to have a later successful pregnancy.

Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist team of clinical negligence lawyers have years of experience in medical negligence claims, providing support and guidance after life-changing events.  Not only do we represent clients in Yorkshire, but because of our reputation we also represent clients nationally.

If you believe that you or a relative may have been injured as a result of clinical/medical negligence, please call for free legal advice from our medical negligence solicitors on the freephone number below.

Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

Freephone : 0800 304 7382