20/01/2025

Does pregnancy after loss impact your decision on the use of private scanning services?

However people feel about private scan services – whether they’re in favour of them or not – they definitely play a part in the journey through pregnancy after loss for many families. Private scanning services are widely available now – and although they come at a cost, many families turn to them for re-assurance between scans provided by the NHS.  The important takeaway from this blog is to think about how as an NHS sonographer, or a private sonographer, can ensure you are fully supporting those who are accessing services after going through previous loss.

We spoke to our community and asked them:

‘Did pregnancy after loss impact your decision to use private scanning services?’

Yes – 94%

No – 6%

The results are mixed in terms of how pregnancy after loss impacted families. On one side, we heard from families who decided to pay for many private scans after loss. Many of these families were accessing private scans for reassurance. One family told us ‘Ordinarily they would be too expensive, but was worth it for peace of mind.’ Another told us ‘I’ve had 3 private scans due to the severe anxiety of not knowing if my baby is ok.’ One person told us that they were lucky they had several NHS scans, but would have paid privately otherwise. We also heard from one family that a later private scan (after 20 week scan) was a lot more empathetic towards her situation and her anxieties.

On the other side, people have told us that they found out about their previous loss at a private scan and found it triggering to go back. One person told us ‘I didn’t want to get bad news outside of a hospital setting so didn’t go for private scans.’ Some families struggled to trust private scanning services and support available for them, with one person telling us they had an ‘awful’ experience after finding out about a miscarriage at a private scanning clinic. Others have told us they would use private clinics, but that they found some were more reputable than others. Some people also felt that the reassurance provided by private scans was short lived.

On the NHS, it is not always guaranteed that people will get an early ‘reassurance’ scan with their unit. It can come down to many factors, including medical need and number of previous losses. This can be anxiety provoking for families and finding the balance between offering reassurance and doing what’s necessary for healthcare professionals can be tough.

Private scans do have their place on the journey through pregnancy after loss – and many families will continue to access their services. It is therefore really important for private scanning clinics to assess how they are supporting families going through pregnancy after loss and how they are ensuring safety for these families. For NHS sonographers and healthcare teams, it’s important to listen to families and assess individual cases. Providing good support for mental health and wellbeing in between scans is crucial.

 

 

 

13/01/2025

Does pregnancy after loss impact on the choice of how/where to birth your baby?

Pregnancy creates lots of decisions and choices. Have you ever given thought to how pregnancy after lot may impact on people’s choices of where and how to birth their baby? We know that some people may face limited choices if they have particular medical reasons that limit their choices on place of birth, but we asked our community their thoughts on how pregnancy after loss impacted their decision making if they had a full array of choices available to them.

We were inspired to find out more about this after the recent article published: ‘The relationship between ethnicity and place of birth in England: a mixed methods study’ (Rivers et al, 2024). After reading this powerful study, it inspired us to think about the  unique challenges pregnancy after loss creates and how these may also impact on place of birth.

We decided to speak to our community and find out if pregnancy after loss impacted their decisions.

‘Did pregnancy after loss impact your choice on where/how to birth your baby?’

Yes – 78%

No – 22%

We had an interesting discussion via Instagram with our community. Most respondents said that pregnancy after loss did have an impact on their choices. Some people told us that they elected for a C section, as it gave them some control and they felt they needed a date to prepare towards. Some people felt terrified of going over their due date and for this reason they opted for induction or C section.

One of our respondents told us that they were concerned about the distance between the midwifery led unit and the hospital and that this led to them choosing a hospital birth.  We also had some respondents who chose a home birth as this was where they felt the safest – in their home environment. For many, safety of their baby was paramount and this was the factor that determined where they chose to give birth.

We heard from people who felt they physically and mentally just could not birth at the place where they had lost their baby. They opted to completely change location for their next pregnancy.

It was interesting to read the array of responses from our community and it’s an area worthy of more research. It’s also eye opening and a reminder to healthcare staff that personalised and individual care plans are vital when working with any family but in particular it is so important to recognise the unique challenges that previous loss presents for families. If you are a healthcare professional working in perinatal health, what are you doing to support families through pregnancy after loss and to facilitate those discussions around where and how to birth their baby?

 

20/12/2024

Pregnancy after loss in the workplace: how can we support employees?

 

We spend so much of our lives at work. When an estimated 1 in 4 pregnancies ends in loss during pregnancy or birth (Tommys, 2022) it’s likely that you will come across someone in your workplace who has been on this devastating journey. It also makes it likely that you will come across people who are pregnant again after loss.

When someone loses a baby, there’s a good chance that their workplace might have a policy in place to help care for them in that situation. More workplaces are working towards having policies in place for fertility and pregnancy loss, but one area that often gets overlooked is pregnancy after loss. There is a high chance that workplaces do not have a policy in place to care for an employee pregnant after loss.When the likelihood of encountering this situation in the workplace is quite high, it really does raise the question: how do we support employees going through pregnancy after loss?

Pregnancy after loss brings about its own challenges. Employees may have additional appointments or scans to attend. It also impacts their mental health. It might be the case that some days for someone pregnant after loss are okay and manageable and others might be filled with too much anxiety. Flexibility and honest open conversations are the key to caring for staff going through this. It is also important to remember that support is not just needed for the person giving birth, but that their partner or wider family members could also be impacted.

It’s really important to acknowledge that not all people will respond or feel the same way. It could be that some are dealing with a mixture of grief and the emotions around navigating a new pregnancy at the same time. There is not a ‘one size fits all’ way to deal with employees going on this journey. Conversations with employees need to be centred around them and their needs – making plans around what they need. This can be achieved through real active listening and working together.

Pregnancy after loss could leave people feeling anxious, not ready to share the news with others, needing extra medical appointments and generally needing extra support and understanding. Employers could help by allowing employees to work from home where possible. They should also check in regularly with employees to understand their needs at different points in the pregnancy. They should try to reduce work stress and worry for employees. Employers can look into what internal support they can offer employees for their mental health. Culture is also incredibly important to consider – discussing cultural needs with employees will also help them to feel supported.

Above all, employees need to feel comfortable and able to discuss their needs and their feelings with their employer – without fear of criticism or a lack of understanding. Taking the time to really listen to employees and understand their needs will go a long way in helping them to feel supported at what could be an incredibly stressful time in their lives.

Willow’s Rainbow Box has created a free downloadable resource to help employers open up these supportive conversations with their employees going through pregnancy after loss. The resource includes space to create an employee centred plan and it can be downloaded here:

Pregnancy after loss in the workplace