Baroness Merron, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health, visits Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research
Baroness Merron, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health, met families affected by pregnancy loss and researchers working to prevent it during a visit today (Friday 18 October) to Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research in Birmingham.
The Centre - a partnership between the University of Birmingham, the University of Warwick and Imperial College London - aims to improve understanding of miscarriage and develop effective treatments that will save babies’ lives.
It is supported by Tommy’s and runs clinics at sites including Birmingham Women’s Hospital for families affected by recurrent miscarriage.
Baroness Merron spent time with some of those who have been treated through the clinic and heard about Tommy’s work to improve miscarriage care.
Currently in the UK, women and birthing people generally have to wait until they've experienced three miscarriages before they qualify for specialist care and support. The team at Birmingham is piloting a new system known as the Graded Model of care, where care and support is offered after every miscarriage, with testing and investigations increasing with each loss.
The Graded Model would ensure everyone affected by miscarriage has access to the necessary psychological and emotional support, as well as the best physical health care.
Baroness Merron’s visit follows the Government’s recent announcement that any parent affected by the loss of a baby before 24 weeks of pregnancy, or 28 weeks if the loss occurred before October 1992, can now apply for a formal certificate acknowledging their bereavement.
Baroness Merron, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health, said:
“It’s been great to visit Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research today to hear more about their important work in miscarriage research, and to speak to healthcare providers and patients. I’ve witnessed first-hand the determination from the team here to support those who experience miscarriage.
“We are committed to ensuring all women and babies receive safe, personalised, and compassionate care, and tackle the shocking inequalities we face in maternity care.”
Kath Abrahams, Chief Executive of Tommy’s, said:
“We were delighted to welcome Baroness Merron to Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research.
“We were able to share our thanks for the recent extension of the baby loss certificate scheme, which we know has brought some comfort to many parents living with the anguish of a bereavement that has never been properly acknowledged until now.
“We expressed our encouragement at the Government’s publicly-stated interest in improving maternal health but urged the Minister to drive forward more fundamental changes to help tackle the devastating impact of baby loss. These include improvements to miscarriage care and a commitment to gather and record UK-wide miscarriage statistics.
“We need accurate information about how many people are affected by miscarriage and who is most at risk, so that research and support services can be directed most effectively towards sparing women and families from the harm it causes.
“It’s also vital that the Government does everything possible to address ongoing disparities in maternal outcomes. We have to change the fact that Black and Asian women and those in the most deprived areas of the UK remain at consistently higher risk of pregnancy loss and complications.”
Professor Arri Coomarasamy, Director of Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research, said:
“It is vital for us to use research to advocate for evidence-based changes to care, so we were very grateful to meet with the Minister today.
“We estimate that women suffer some 250,000 miscarriages in the UK each year: the heartbreaking burden and cost of this to families and society is unacceptable.
“The Graded Model provides a rational, caring and pragmatic approach that may prevent further pregnancy losses and help ensure no one is left behind in miscarriage care.”
Raffaela Goodby, Chief People Officer at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“Miscarriage and pregnancy loss is still a taboo subject in many communities, so it is vital we continue to tackle the stigma and raise awareness of the research and support available. This is also why our Trust launched a paid miscarriage leave policy in 2021, which we are so delighted was rolled out to the whole NHS in March of this year.
“Our Trust, working alongside partners like Tommy’s, wants to support families with love and compassion, to ensure that they know there is always someone by their side when they need it most, and especially as we have just marked Baby Loss Awareness Week.
“We were delighted to welcome Baroness Merron to our Women’s Hospital so that she could see for herself the determination and energy we have to support the families we support and cherish following miscarriage or baby loss.”
