Cruel to leave women who miscarry in same ward as expectant mothers, Labour MP says

Women who have miscarried should not be in the same hospital ward as expectant mothers, Labour MP Katya De Giovanni said, calling it “a cruel” practice.

De Giovanni called for greater awareness on the trauma caused by miscarriage, recounting her experience 20 years ago as an expectant 29-year-old mother.

“Miscarriage causes trauma to the women and men who experience it and in my case, the trauma was so big that it led to the failure of my first marriage,” De Giovanni told parliament on Monday in her adjournment speech.

She called for better support for couples that suffer a miscarriage, sharing details of her own traumatic experience on the evening between 3 and 4 December 2004.

De Giovanni was 10 weeks pregnant at the time when she miscarried her first child.

“I went to hospital because I started to bleed heavily and was in pain. The doctor on duty informed me that the child was lost and I required a D&C (a procedure to scrape the uterus clean),” she said, recalling the doctor’s lack of compassion and sensitivity when delivering the news.

De Giovanni said neither she nor her then husband was prepared for a miscarriage. “I spent a year, existing not living and no one could help me,” she said.

The Labour MP said she wanted to share her personal experience in parliament to raise awareness on the suffering caused by miscarriage. The country needs to do “much, much more” to address the trauma, she added.

De Giovanni called for a stronger bereavement service provided by midwives and the need to speak about miscarriage in pregnancy preparatory courses.

She said marriage preparation courses should be extended to couples opting for a civil ceremony and these should also touch on the subject of miscarriage.

De Giovanni said the topic should also feature in PSCD classes in schools and called for better training of professionals in the way they deliver the bad news.