Following the Group session where we shared our three ideas to a small group in class, from the feedback I received, I decided to move on with the pregnancy app idea, originally focusing on couples who have experienced pregnancy loss before. This topics seems very meaningful and an area that is often overlooked, I am also wanting to focus on this topic as it is something that has impacted my family and I would like to create a product/service that would help those who have also experienced this.
At this stage I am still exploring exactly what I want the next step to look like and the direction this project will take. I plan for this page to carry out further research into the topic so I can find a path that seems fitting to me. I am going to be providing links and pulling quotes and statistics from each of these below.
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NHS
Miscarriages are much more common than most people realise.
It's thought around 1 in 8 known pregnancies will end in miscarriage. Many miscarriages happen before someone knows they're pregnant.
Losing 3 or more pregnancies in a row (recurrent miscarriages) is uncommon and only affects around 1 in 100 women.
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SANDS
In 2023, there were 2,545 stillbirths at a rate of 3.9 stillbirths per 1,000 total birthsfor the whole of the UK (source: ONS).
That means for the UK in 2023, there was approximately 1 stillbirth for every 250 births.
In 2023, there were 1,933 neonatal deaths at a rate of 2.9 deaths per 1,000 live birthsfor the whole of the UK (source: ONS).
That means for the UK in 2023, there was approximately 1 neonatal death for every 350 births.
There's still much uncertainty around the numbers and rates of pregnancy loss, with evidence suggesting 15 out of every 100 pregnancies end in miscarriage in the UK (source: Sand's and Tommy's Joint Policy Unit).
We estimate that that there may have been over 100,000 miscarriages in England in 2021, but there is a lot of uncertainty around these numbers
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Tommys
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It is estimated that early miscarriages happen to 10-20 in 100 (10 to 20%) of pregnancies.
It is estimated that second trimester loss (late miscarriage) happens to 3-4 in 100 (3 to 4%) of pregnancies.
Around 1 in 80 (1.25%) pregnancies are ectopic.
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The Who
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Healthcare staff can show sensitivity and empathy, acknowledge how the parents feel, provide clear information, and understand that the parents may need specific support both in dealing with their loss and in potentially trying to have another baby.
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Many women who lose a baby in pregnancy can go on to develop mental health issues that last for months or years– even when they have gone on to have healthy babies.
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The Unacceptable Stigma And Shame Women Face After Baby Loss Must End
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Why we need to talk about losing a baby
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The consequences of miscarriage are both physical, such as bleeding or infection, and psychological. Psychological consequences include increases in the risk of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicide. Miscarriage, and especially recurrent miscarriage, is also a sentinel risk marker for obstetric complications, including preterm birth, fetal growth restriction, placental abruption, and stillbirth in future pregnancies, and a predictor of longer-term health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and venous thromboembolism.
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https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00682-6/abstract#:~:text=Summary,5–0·8%25).
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Satisfaction was highest when there was a follow-up appointment soon after the loss, at which time answers to the almost universally asked questions of why the miscarriage occurred and whether it would happen again were addressed, and sufficient time was allowed to focus on the patient's feelings. The most likely emotions to be present relate to a relatively brief period of loss characterized by grief, dysphoria, and anxiety. The risk of a more intense or longer lasting distress is likely to occur if the woman strongly desired the pregnancy, waited a long time to conceive, has no living children, had elective abortions or other losses in the past, had few warning signs that a loss might occur, experienced the loss relatively late in the pregnancy, has little social support, or has a history of coping poorly.
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