Parents May Be Given Right To Register Late Miscarriages!

Lots of parents who’ve had late miscarriages are saddened and frustrated by the fact that they’re unable to register the birth and death of their precious angel if the loss happened before the 24th week.

In the UK, a miscarriage is classed as the loss of a pregnancy before the point of ‘viability’ (24 weeks gestation), after which point, the loss is classed as a stillbirth – which understandably rankles those who’ve lost a baby so close to this point!

However, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has ordered a review on the registering rights of bereaved parents, in order to try and give them the legal right to officially register a loss before the 24th week.

How fantastic! However, the report is unclear as to whether this will apply to all miscarriages, or only those deemed ‘late’.

The review will be carried out by the Department of Health and Social Care in consultation with the General Register Office for England and Wales. The review will also aim to determine how wider support can be offered to parents who’ve suffered a late miscarriage, and look into implementing additional training for medical staff!

There have been multiple reports of expectant mothers who are being discharged from hospital after a late miscarriage without being given the same package of care and support that is given to those mums who experience a stillbirth literally days later in gestation – the review will also tackle this glaring deficit in care that sadly many mums are subjected to.

Finally, this review will closely examine how our NHS could improve patient access to ‘gynaecological, maternity and bereavement care‘ to support bereaved parents in their grief and recovery from their early or late miscarriage, stillbirth, or neonatal loss.

I hope that this review has a positive outcome, and send my love to all the angel parents who follow us!

Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Love from Katie. Xx

Would you like to share your story to raise awareness of baby loss, and help to break the stigma that still exists? Email me at [email protected]!

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