Pregnancy loss to be recognised

Last week the Government announced it’s commitment to allow pregnancy losses to be formally recognised before 24 weeks.

It means that for the first time, women experiencing miscarriage, ectopic or molar pregnancies in England will be able to receive an official certificate recording their loss.

While these optional certificates will not have the legal status or benefits of registration, for many bereaved parents they will still provide significant comfort and an acknowledgement of their loss.

The scheme, announced by the Government on Wednesday 20th July is part of a range of measures that were unveiled in the Women’s Health Strategy which aims to put a greater focus on women’s specific health conditions, including fertility and pregnancy loss, and gynaecological conditions such as endometriosis. (hooray!)

Anna Kettle, one of the founders of the SPACE community, has had multiple miscarriages herself and said:

“As a network, we welcome this step forwards.

“We know that the commitment to allow optional certification will make a huge difference to many people in the pregnancy loss community whose babies’ brief lives cannot currently be officially registered in any way.

“Too often pregnancy loss gets treated only as a medical condition, with very little recognition given to the huge sense of grief that parents often feel in the aftermath of that loss - whatever stage of pregnancy it happens at.

“Our hope is that this change will help validate the experiences of bereaved parents, offering them some comfort and reassurance that what they experienced really matters.”

It may still be some time before these new certificates are available from the government… but in the meantime, parents can also access unofficial memorial certificates from the Miscarriage Association.