"We felt we had to miscarry again to get the help we needed." #BBCNews
Lisa Very, who suffered two miscarriages, describes how the NHS threshold of three miscarriages before receiving help felt cruel and inadequate. A pilot project at Birmingham Women's Hospital offering care after just one miscarriage showed promising results. The UK government has committed to reviewing the pilot for potential nationwide rollout.
Summary
The transcript opens with Lisa Very recounting a deeply distressing conversation with her husband, in which they acknowledged they felt they needed to experience another miscarriage just to qualify for NHS support. Under current NHS guidelines in England, women must suffer three miscarriages before being eligible for investigative help and treatment — a threshold Lisa found both emotionally devastating and medically inadequate.
After her second miscarriage, Lisa was invited to participate in a pilot project at Birmingham Women's Hospital. Through this program, tests revealed that she could benefit from aspirin and the hormone progesterone to support a healthy pregnancy. At the time of the report, Lisa is pregnant, suggesting the intervention has been effective for her.
Lisa reflects on the emotional gap in care, noting that while there is substantial support for pregnant women, there has historically been little support for women who are no longer pregnant — compounding grief with a lack of medical attention.
The pilot project itself offers care beginning after just one miscarriage, including one-to-one consultations on healthy living and supplements such as folic acid, followed by further tests and checks. Researchers found a small but meaningful reduction in miscarriage risk among participants, and women who did experience subsequent miscarriages within the program reported feeling significantly better supported.
The UK government has committed to reviewing the pilot's results and considering a broader rollout across the UK. While England, Northern Ireland, and Wales follow the same three-miscarriage threshold guidelines, Scotland is already making improvements in miscarriage care independently.
Key Insights
- Lisa Very describes telling her husband they needed to miscarry again as quickly as possible, because the NHS in England requires three miscarriages before qualifying for investigative support — a threshold she found both absurd and emotionally devastating.
- After Lisa's second miscarriage, tests through the Birmingham Women's Hospital pilot revealed she would benefit from aspirin and progesterone, treatments that contributed to her current pregnancy — suggesting earlier intervention can be clinically meaningful.
- Lisa argues there is strong support for pregnant women on the NHS but very little support for women who are no longer pregnant, describing that absence of care as compounding emotional grief.
- Researchers found that women in the pilot project who did go on to miscarry again reported feeling much better supported, indicating that the value of early care extends beyond just clinical outcomes to emotional wellbeing.
- While England, Northern Ireland, and Wales follow the same three-miscarriage guideline threshold, Scotland is already independently making improvements in miscarriage care, highlighting a divergence in healthcare policy across the UK.
Topics
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