A new Miscarriage Association report based on 1,000 survivors’ experiences reveals widespread failures in NHS follow-up care, mental health support, and workplace protection after pregnancy loss.
A landmark report into pregnancy loss in the UK has revealed the scale of a healthcare crisis that affects hundreds of thousands of people every year, yet remains largely invisible.
Published on 9 March by the Miscarriage Association, Miscarriage in the UK is based on the experiences of more than 1,000 people affected by pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. Its findings are damning: 65% of respondents said they did not receive adequate follow-up care after their miscarriage, and more than a quarter described their care as poor or very poor.
The Department of Health and Social Care, responding to the findings, said losing a baby was “heartbreaking” and called the report’s findings “unacceptable.”
What the report found
The picture that emerges from survivors’ testimonies is one of a system that too often sends women home with nothing: no guidance, no follow-up, sometimes no basic dignity.
One woman, who experienced a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and nearly took her own life in its aftermath, described being told her baby had been “put in the incinerator with the rest of the medical waste” while she was still recovering. Another described her experience as “dehumanising,” saying she had to bring a pregnancy sac to hospital in a Tupperware box “where it was treated like a specimen.”
The report found that access to early pregnancy units and scans varied dramatically depending on location, with some women sent home with conflicting advice or, in serious cases, missing diagnoses that led to emergency surgery and avoidable fertility loss. A recurring theme was a lack of basic dignity, with some women left without access to sanitary pads.
The mental health toll is severe and, according to the data, largely unaddressed. 68% of respondents experienced mental health problems following miscarriage, including grief, depression, PTSD and suicidal thoughts, while 42% of those who wanted mental health treatment did not receive it.
Vicki Robinson, chief executive of the Miscarriage Association, said: “Too many women and their partners are being failed by a system that is inconsistent, unequal and too often dictated by chance or circumstance. People told us they felt unheard and diminished, caught between gaps in healthcare, uncertainty at work, and a wider silence that leaves miscarriage poorly understood.”
The workplace gap
The report also shines a light on what happens when women return to work, often far sooner than they should and without adequate support. 57% of respondents were offered no formal support after disclosing pregnancy loss at work, nearly half said their employer had no pregnancy loss policy at all, and 60% found their working environment emotionally triggering after they returned.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 includes a new provision extending statutory bereavement leave to cover pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. Employees will be legally entitled to at least one week of unpaid leave, expected to come into force in 2027. It marks the first time miscarriage has been formally recognised in UK law as a bereavement, a shift campaigners have fought for for years, though the leave will be unpaid and critics argue one week falls far short of what many people need.
Sarah Owen, chair of the Women and Equalities Committee and Miscarriage Association ambassador, said: “Losing a pregnancy at any stage makes a woman physically and mentally vulnerable. It’s shocking to hear their stories of being treated with such insensitivity by trained healthcare providers, adding harm to what is already such a traumatic experience.”
Why this keeps happening
Around 200,000 pregnancies are lost to miscarriage in the UK every year, according to the Miscarriage Association, yet miscarriages are not officially counted by any national body. Tommy’s, the baby loss charity, has been campaigning for mandatory recording of all miscarriages, noting that the true figure is almost certainly an undercount. A loss that goes unrecorded goes unresourced, and the care gap this report documents is, in part, the consequence of that.
The Miscarriage Association is calling for routine follow-up care after every miscarriage, extended Early Pregnancy Unit opening hours, expanded bereavement care provision, and full implementation of the Employment Rights Act’s bereavement leave provisions. As TNF has previously reported, the experience of miscarriage in the UK sits at the intersection of underfunded healthcare, inadequate workplace protections, and a wider cultural silence around women’s reproductive health. This report makes clear, in the words of the women who lived it, what that silence costs.
Where to get support
If you or someone you know has been affected by pregnancy loss, support is available.
The Miscarriage Association runs a helpline at 0303 003 6464 (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 9am–4pm; Wednesday, Friday 9am–8pm) and offers live chat support via its website.
Tommy’s provides information, support, and a free research-based Miscarriage Support Tool.
Sands supports anyone affected by pregnancy loss and neonatal death, with a helpline at 0808 164 3332.
If you are in crisis, text SHOUT to 85258 from anywhere in the UK, anytime, for free.
Photo from Depositphotos
