Support services for women who have miscarried ‘grossly inadequate’

By Fiachra O Cionnaith

Thursday, May 28, 2009

SPECIALIST follow-up counselling and support services for women who have miscarried are "grossly inadequate".

And in a vast majority of cases, it has emerged, miscarrying women have to queue "for hours" with their pregnant or post-natal counterparts.

A new survey by the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services in Ireland (AIMSI) reveal an average of 50 pregnancy losses daily in this country.

But specialist support services for women who have miscarried and their partners remain almost entirely "non-existent".

A survey, which sought the views of 106 miscarriage sufferers, claims two out of every three women who miscarry are not offered any follow-up support or counselling services.

Just one in four were able to access vital support while only one in three of the 106 women involved were offered early scans, tests or counselling during subsequent pregnancies.

Almost half of those in the survey said their loss was not properly acknowledged by staff who were often "desensitised" to the situation.

One survey respondent reported anonymously that she had been "told off" by a midwife for taking her file home while others said they felt like they were just "a number" with staff advising miscarriage was "a daily occurrence".

In one case, a woman who had miscarried brought the remains into the hospital but was given a bin bag and told no-one wanted to see it, said AIMSI spokesperson Kyrsia Lynch.

"We have good medical care in Ireland in maternity services, but we absolutely do not have good support services," she said.

"For some women who have an early miscarriage, before 14 weeks, it can be the first time they have gone to the maternity ward. It doesn’t happen everywhere, Holles Street in Dublin for example has an early pregnancy assessment unit but, in most hospitals, they will be queuing with women who have clear bumps and are clearly pregnant.

As a result of the survey’s findings, AIMSI has called for private examination rooms and separate ward areas to be provided for women who have miscarried.

The group has also called for maternity ward staff to be given further training in supporting women suffering pregnancy loss.

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Thursday, May 28, 2009