‘Being exposed to people who it’s all going well for really hurts.’ (Picture: Getty Images)
Warning: This article includes descriptions of miscarriage and baby loss.
‘I remember so clearly walking past all the happy pregnant women and their partners, holding their scan pictures in their hands, smiling, and feeling like a complete failure,’ Emma Garner tells Metro.co.uk.
At 38-years-old, Emma Garner, from Manchester, has experienced an unimaginable eight baby losses.
She can recall countless trips to hospital, where she was placed in maternity spaces alongside excited mums-to-be, while dealing with devastating loss.
‘Being exposed to people who it’s all going well for really hurts,’ she says.
In 2018, the Pregnancy Loss Group was commissioned to look into the overall quality of NHS care for those who experience baby loss before 24 weeks.
Thanks to their report published in July 2023, parents in England who lose a baby before 24 weeks, can now get a baby loss certificate that recognises their grief.
Emma had eight miscarriages and believes separate waiting rooms for good news and bad news are essential (Picture: Emma Garner)
However, the report also recognised that it was ‘vital’ that a ‘private space’ was offered to parents when ‘receiving unexpected and difficult news’.
The report read: ‘Many parents with whom we spoke felt their distress had been compounded by the lack of a private space in which to grieve, and/or being surrounded by pregnant individuals and newborns.’
It also added that parents ‘should only be cared for in maternity spaces at the patient’s request or if this is the only available place of care.’
Kate Davies is the research, policy and information director for Tommy’s, the baby loss charity. She agrees that separate spaces are vital.
‘Tommy’s fully supports the call for all hospitals and early pregnancy assessment units to provide an ‘appropriate setting and sensitive care’ for those experiencing baby loss in the UK,’ she says.
‘People dealing with the shock and grief of miscarriage should not have to wait side by side in any healthcare setting with others whose pregnancy journey remains positive.’
Sadly, Emma found herself in this situation time and time again.
Her first loss came in 2014, when at 10 weeks, there was no sign of her baby’s heartbeat. A few months after this experience, Emma got pregnant again. But her 12-week scan sadly revealed that her second baby had also died.
‘Again, I was taken back to the waiting room. I didn’t cry, I didn’t speak. I remember looking around feeling angry, bitter, and jealous,’ she says.
It’s ‘vital’ that a ‘private space’ is offered to parents when ‘receiving difficult news’.(Credits: Getty)
‘I remember a couple being there having a conversation about the gender of their baby and that they hoped it was a girl as they didn’t want a boy. I remember thinking that they were lucky it was alive.’
In 2015, one year after her first miscarriage, Emma went on to have two more. At the end of the year, she got pregnant for the fifth time …read more
Source:: Metro
