Bonnie Griffin , RVN , shares her experience of pregnancy loss and discusses how veterinary practices can support staff through a miscarriage

sat down several times to write an article about anaesthesia . I wrote a title . I stared at the screen . I made soup from scratch . I cleaned my living room . I made a cup of tea . I stared at the screen . Then I realised why I couldn ' t write : 6 weeks previously , I had my fourth consecutive early pregnancy loss – my third within a year – and , actually , this is what I wanted to write about . I wanted to tell others in my situation that they aren ' t alone and , in doing so , perhaps feel a little less lonely myself .

A quick Google search for ‘ pregnancy loss in veterinary practice ’ brought up just four results relating to humans , followed by endless results relating to pregnancy loss in animals . Changing the words ‘ pregnancy loss ’ to ‘ miscarriage ’ found similar results , while the words ‘ ectopic ’ or ‘ molar ’ pregnancies brought up no humanrelated results for the veterinary profession . As many as 1 in 4 pregnant women experience a loss , and consecutive losses of three or more pregnancies affect 1 in 100 women [ 1 ] ; yet , it can still be an incredibly lonely experience , which is why I want to help to improve support for women .

Each of the four articles I found on my Google search mentioned the ‘ taboo ’ that surrounds pregnancy loss , which I think adds to the loneliness of the experience .

No one likes to talk about pregnancy loss but , when we do reach out , we often find that others understand our pain and have experienced similar losses . So , I ' m writing firstly to tell you , if you need to hear it , that you are not alone , and secondly to provide guidance on how to support people experiencing a pregnancy loss , whether they are an employee , a colleague or a friend .

What is pregnancy loss ?

This may sound like a straightforward question but the answer is actually quite complicated . The NHS terms the loss of a pregnancy before 23 weeks and 6 days as a ‘ miscarriage ’, and a pregnancy lost after 24 weeks as a ‘ stillbirth ’. In this article , I ' m focusing mainly on miscarriages , as I ' m writing from personal experience , but additional information and guidance for couples following a stillbirth can also be found in the links to support at the end of this article ( see page 13 ).

Miscarriage commonly entails some bleeding ( usually heavy ) and abdominal cramping , but this isn ' t always the case . Some pregnancy losses are discovered only at a routine dating scan or an early ‘ reassurance ’ scan , when no foetal heartbeat is detected – these are known as missed or ‘ silent ’ miscarriages [ 2 ] .

10 Veterinary Nursing Journal