Baby Loss Awareness Week shines a light on ‘vital work needed to improve pregnancy outcomes’

This year marks the 21st anniversary of Baby Loss Awareness Week in the UK and runs from 9-15 October, culminating in the global Wave of Light.

Why do miscarriages happen?

As many as 25% of clinically diagnosed pregnancies end in miscarriage. However, when combined with pre-clinical losses, where the female partner was unaware she was pregnant, the true incidence may be higher. Most miscarriages are isolated incidents, often due to a chance chromosome error and occur within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. 

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is a different condition and much rarer. It is estimated that 5% of women experience two consecutive miscarriages and approximately 1-2% suffer three or more. 

Being over 35 increases the risk of chromosome errors in the embryo, which is a common cause of early pregnancy loss, however for RPL there are potentially other factors involved. 

Attitudes to miscarriage

A recent survey by the charity Tommy’s showed that there is still progress to be made regarding attitudes to miscarriage. 

The survey of 2,000 people who had experienced one or more miscarriages in the last 8 years found that: 78 per cent felt like a failure after miscarriage; 71 per cent felt guilty; and 59 per cent said they found it difficult or very difficult to talk about their miscarriage. 

Improving Pregnancy Outcomes

Tommy’s say that half of early miscarriages are not due to chromosomal abnormalities but have underlying causes which can be cured. 

The charity currently has a number of research projects underway aimed at improving pregnancy outcomes including: testing fetal DNA to see if miscarriage happened for genetic reasons; researching a drug that could increase stem cells in the wombs of women who have suffered recurrent miscarriage; following up on studies that appear to show that damage to the DNA of sperm can more than double the risk of miscarriage; and a trial looking to see if differences in women’s heart and blood vessels before or early in pregnancy can lead to miscarriage.   

Bourn Hall’s specialist Miscarriage Clinic aims at improving pregnancy outcomes for anyone who has experienced one or more miscarriages or early pregnancy losses (EPL) either after natural conception or fertility treatment. 

Dr Tewary comments: “One in four women will suffer a miscarriage at some point in their life. For eighty per cent of these losses it will be a chance event due to a chromosomal error in that particular pregnancy. However recurrent pregnancy loss is a different condition and much rarer. It is estimated that five per cent of women experience two consecutive miscarriages and approximately 1-2 percent suffer three or more and these are increasingly likely to be genetically normal embryos with each loss so we need to look for other causes.” 

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