Myth: Early pregnancy loss doesn’t affect people

Early pregnancy loss can be a significant life event, or trauma, and involve a major disturbance of self-identity (4).

Psychological consequences include increased risk of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicide (5–7). These can be more pronounced for some, for example, in cases of recurrent miscarriage and/or infertility.

Grief is also a highly individualised experience for male partners, not necessarily dependent on the timing of a pregnancy loss (8). 

References

(4) Frost J, Bradley H, Levitas R, Smith L, Garcia J. The loss of possibility: scientisation of death and the special case of early miscarriage. Sociology of Health & Illness. 2007;29(7):1003–22.

(5) Farren J, Jalmbrant M, Falconieri N, Mitchell-Jones N, Bobdiwala S, Al-Memar M, et al. Posttraumatic stress, anxiety and depression following miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2020;222(4):367.e1-367.e22.

(6) Farren J, Mitchell-Jones N, Verbakel JY, Timmerman D, Jalmbrant M, Bourne T. The psychological impact of early pregnancy loss. Human Reproduction Update. 2018;24(6):731–49.

(7) Quenby S, Gallos ID, Dhillon-Smith RK, Podesek M, Stephenson MD, Fisher J, et al. Miscarriage matters: the epidemiological, physical, psychological, and economic costs of early pregnancy loss. Lancet. 2021;397(10285):1658–67.

(8) Obst KL, Due C, Oxlad M, Middleton P. Men’s grief following pregnancy loss and neonatal loss: a systematic review and emerging theoretical model. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 2020;20(1):11.