Portsmouth nurse sets up miscarriage support group after personal loss

A nurse from Portsmouth has helped to set up a new support group for women who have experienced baby loss or miscarriage after she experienced a lack of emotional support after her own loss.

Sarah Reynolds, Oncology Day Unit Nurse at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, experienced her miscarriage a year ago, and said that she couldn’t find a local support network to help her.

Sarah, 30, from Cosham, struggled to find in-person support and took to online groups for help and advice, which to her felt impersonal. Using her experience, she wanted to start a local group for women who have been through similar situations, where women can meet up and share how they feel about the often taboo subject with sympathetic companions.

With the help of the Early Pregnancy team at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, the group will run once a month to offer a safe space for women who have been through a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, or medical termination.

Sarah, who is married to husband Alex, said: “Society expects you to have a miscarriage and then go straight back to work, but people forget that you’re bereaved. People need to know that I’m not going to be okay for a while and that’s why the group is so important.

“I can’t believe how lonely my experience was. Even though my miscarriage was a year for me now, I still have so much unresolved trauma because I had no one to talk to. I think the new group will so be valuable, where we can all share our experiences and not feel so lonely.”

Statistics show that one in four pregnancies will end with a miscarriage, with the chance increasing to one in two for those aged over the age of 40.

Clinical Nurse Specialist Jane Lyndon, from the Early Pregnancy team, added: “This new group will offer women that much needed support and allow them to speak to others in the same situation. Miscarriage can be a devastating experience - it is a different kind of loss. This can be hard for others to understand and relate to. Sarah has been instrumental in helping to start the support group which will hopefully help Sarah and other parents who experience this loss.”

The monthly group will launch on Wednesday 7 June at Cosham Community Centre, PO6 3AP. The drop-in informal group sessions will be every first Wednesday of the month between 7pm and 9pm. Associate Nurse Specialist Margaret West will be running the group alongside one other member of the Early Pregnancy team.

If you have any queries, please contact the Early Pregnancy Unit 02392 283290.

For more information about miscarriage and pregnancy loss, visit: Miscarriage - NHS (www.nhs.uk)