AQW 24637/17-22
Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry
Tabled Date: 20/10/2021
Answered On Date: 15/12/2021
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to detail the support available, including mental health support, for women and their partners after the loss of a baby or miscarriage.
Answer:
The vast majority of women who experience perinatal loss, be it through recurrent miscarriage, late pregnancy loss, stillbirth or neonatal death will experience normal grief and adjustment difficulties. They are most appropriately helped by psychological input provided by primary care services, or counselling and other supports located in the community and voluntary sector. This help would also be available to the partners of women who have suffered a loss. The Bereavement Midwives located in each Trust are a valuable alternative layer of support and most women who experience late pregnancy loss, stillbirths or neonatal deaths are currently referred to this service. Bereavement midwives will also see women who have experienced recurrent miscarriage but, in order to provide a more comprehensive service, would require an increase in capacity to manage the demand. Some women will however require more specialised psychological intervention, such as that provided by the psychologists based in the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital. The above services need clear pathways for referral and all staff providing interventions need to be adequately trained and supported. The perinatal mental health teams will have a number of women on their caseloads with a history of perinatal loss. These women will have been referred to the teams in subsequent pregnancies because they are suffering from mental illness as a consequence of the loss or coincidentally.
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