Hospital survey: Over a quarter of women who suffer a miscarriage have indicated it would deter them from becoming pregnant again. And many of them feel completely alienated when they return to work after having miscarried, with employers avoiding discussing their trauma with them, a new study has found.
The study involved 90 women attending a weekly miscarriage clinic in the Coombe Women's Hospital, Dublin, between October 2004 and February 2005. They were asked to fill out a questionnaire on the impact of miscarriage on their lives and their health, having miscarried six to eight weeks previously.
When the data provided was analysed it was found miscarriage had significantly affected the lives of 40 per cent of the women. Some 28 per cent reported the experience would deter them from becoming pregnant in the future. Two-thirds of the group reported a need for follow-up support in the first three weeks after they miscarried.
Dr Sinead McGilloway of the department of psychology, NUI Maynooth, supervised the research which was conducted by Mary O'Donoghue.
Dr McGilloway said 57 per cent of the women were considered in need of formal mental health intervention, such as counselling. Some 28 per cent were actually "clinically anxious" and 11 per cent were "clinically depressed", she said.
She added that 78 per cent had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, which was "way higher than anticipated".
More than one-third of the women felt "intense levels of grief".
Dr McGilloway said that while there was no control group in the study, which was one of its limitations, none of the women had a psychiatric history.
Furthermore, she said the women would need to be followed up later to see if their feelings changed as time passed.
Dr McGilloway said the women also said they felt a strong sense of alienation when they returned to work. Employers and work colleagues tended to avoid talking to them about their miscarriage.
Overall, she said the findings indicated the need for support for women after they miscarried, not alone from family and friends but also from health professionals. There was a need, she said, for more training for health professionals to help them deal with it.
"There is also a need to destigmatise it and talk more openly about miscarriage," she said.
This was very important given that around 14,000 women in the Republic miscarry every year.
The study was presented at the annual conference of the Psychological Society of Ireland in Derry at the weekend.