This week I was contacted by Radio Aire to get my thoughts and reactions to the news that the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has ordered a review to look at the existing legislation regarding rights of parents when they have suffered a late miscarriage.

Currently if a family experience a miscarriage before the 24th week of pregnancy there are no formal processes that allow them to legally register their baby's name or receive a certificate.
Jeremy Hunt has announced that these parents could potentially be given new rights which would enable them to certify and register their baby on official records.
At the moment only parents whose babies are born at 24 weeks or more have a right to register their child's name and receive a certificate of registration.

The review will look at whether existing legislation should be changed and will look particularly at concerns of expectant mothers being discharged after a miscarriage without the same package of care that a family who have experienced a stillbirth later in the pregnancy does.
It will be carried out by the Department of Health and Social Care alongside the General Register Office for England & Wales and is planning to look at how they could improve wider support including training for staff on how to support mothers after a late miscarriage.
They are also planning to look at how the NHS could improve access to gynaecology, maternity and bereavement care after a late miscarriage and other causes of baby loss.

Mr Hunt has been quoted as saying
" There is nothing more agonising than losing a child, so I am passionate about our national mission to reduce stillbirths and neonatal deaths, but we also want to take a fresh look at what more we can do as a health service and government to help support families who do face this devastating loss - particularly for those who lose babies through late miscarriage or neonatal deaths under 24 weeks. Of course nothing can take away that pain, but we think there is more to be done to guarantee the sensitive and compassionate care we would all want for our families at this most distressing time."

I explained to the radio that we have heard parents say that when they have lost their baby before 24 weeks they feel as if their child has been disregarded and treated as if it isn't a baby. They often leave hospital empty handed, not even being given any leaflets or information regarding where to get support or what to do next.

As soon as a couple take the pregnancy test and see those lines telling them they are pregnant their hopes for their child begin. To then have this life dismissed by professionals as merely an 'early loss' is totally devastating. They had begun to make plans about their future with their baby and their child was wanted and loved just as much as a family going through a later loss.

Being able to register their baby and having an official certificate can mean such a lot to a family at this heart breaking time. The acknowledgement that their baby did exist. 
I also spoke of the need for proper communication between all agencies to ensure best quality care is offered as well as a standardised criteria that all hospitals should follow which will ensure that no families fall through the net.

We have been campaigning since 2013 for a review of the systems that are supposed to help and support bereaved families following the loss of a baby.

This review is hopefully going to be just the start of improvements to the current substandard care packages that some areas of the country offer.
Whilst we think that this review should have happened a long while ago we are pleased that something is now being done and hopefully families voices will be heard and listened to.