Miscarriages: No recognition makes loss feel less important, say mums

Emma Telford Owen and Fiona Hughes want to see recognition for babies lost before 24 weeks

Two mothers say a lack of recognition after a miscarriage makes it feel as if their babies never existed.

"To leave the hospital without any recognition that your baby existed is so difficult to accept," said Emma Owen, 38, from Gaerwen, Anglesey.

A baby that dies after 24 weeks in Wales is officially recorded as a stillbirth, however there is no such recognition for babies lost earlier.

The Welsh government said it was working to rectify this.

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In England, bereaved parents who lose a baby before 24 weeks of pregnancy can now receive a certificate in recognition of their loss.

Ms Owen, who has lost two babies at different stages of pregnancy, one before 24 weeks and one after, said there were stark differences.

"Although both experiences were horrendous I felt with the loss after 24 weeks there was more recognition as we received the registration of the stillbirth," she said.

"Before 24 weeks there's just nothing at all... you come back from the hospital with nothing at all, as far as the baby's name is concerned.

"I feel it would have been of great comfort to receive something like this."

Emma and Fiona have set up a charity to provide bereaved parents with certificates of death, but want the Welsh government to provide them officially

Fiona Hughes, 46, from Dulas, Anglesey, lost two babies after 21 weeks of pregnancy.

"The experience itself is a difficult one and not something you'd want to go through again," she said.

'A loss is still a loss'

"But we also felt there's little evidence to show that we had both losses because they were both before 24 weeks.

"It makes you feel that your loss isn't as important as someone that loses their child after 24 weeks.

"A loss is still a loss."

Ms Hughes and Ms Owen want to see a change in the law and for Wales to follow the system that is now in place in England.

Having received the support of the Betsi Cadwaladr health board, they have established the charity Pluen Wen - White Feather - which does now provide recognition certificates to families.

A number of hospitals in north Wales are offering the bilingual certificates

Ms Hughes added that the response to the certificates had been positive and that the pair were already working with hospitals in the region.

"At the beginning, when we were thinking of giving these to Ysbyty Gwynedd, they wanted a small number," she said.

"But now they want to share them across the whole of the north, they aim to use 600 certificates a year.

"We would have been very comforted to receive something like this and that's what we can offer to other people who are experiencing this nightmare, that they also get a little something to acknowledge their special little babies."

A Welsh government spokesperson said: "Miscarriage at any stage of pregnancy is distressing and we are committed to ensuring every family who experiences a miscarriage is appropriately and compassionately supported.

"We are also working with officials in England to explore delivering the certification process across Wales to formally recognise baby loss."

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