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Knowledge is power: Researchers team up with local secondary school to co-create resources to increase awareness of pregnancy loss
Last night, an event was held in St Angela’s College, Cork to mark the end of the first year of the SPRING project, a project which aims to increase knowledge and awareness of pregnancy loss amongst young people in secondary schools.
SPRING – Supporting Pregnancy & Reproductive Health Information for Teenagers – is a collaboration between the Pregnancy Loss Research Group (PLRG) at University College Cork and Transition Year Students at St Angela’s College. On the night, various members of the team spoke about the journey they have taken together during the academic year and showcased the learning and outputs from the project.
This was an incredible learning opportunity for us. As young women, it is so important that we have this information for our futures. We were able to put what we have learned into resources that will hopefully educate other people, raise awareness and help to reduce stigma. We also hope that by raising awareness and talking about these topics, we can start to think about a fairer society and improve reproductive justice. We really want this work to make a difference.
The project came about following years of research generated by the PLRG, amongst others, which demonstrated the need for increased public awareness of, and education within schools on, pregnancy loss.
Dr Laura Linehan, Consultant Obstetrician at Cork University Maternity Hospital and Co-Lead of the SPRING project explained:
As doctors and researchers working with women and their families who experience pregnancy loss and infertility, we identified that these difficult experiences are accompanied by a deep sense of frustration that these topics are not discussed with people until they happen to them. Speaking to women and healthcare professionals about pregnancy loss and infertility as part of my own research, they voiced that secondary school would be the ideal time to begin to raise awareness. It was obvious that the best way to engage with young people on these sensitive topics was to include them in their development. The girls chose the name SPRING for the project to reflect their stage in life and to represent their growth as they gained knowledge and awareness. The girls have shown incredible empathy and dedication in developing these resources to share this key information with young people.
Dr Brendan Fitzgerald, a Consultant Perinatal Pathologist at Cork University Hospital and PLRG member, approached St Angela’s College to gauge their interest in actively collaborating on a participatory project with Transition Year Students to establish their needs and what approaches would best work for them.
From September to May, members of the Pregnancy Loss Research Group, visited the school for Friday workshops to work with the group of 24 Transition Year students to build knowledge around pregnancy loss and fertility and then collaboratively generate resources to share this knowledge with their peers.
Speaking at the event, students said:
We were uncertain of what to expect, having never done a research project like this before. We did not know a lot about pregnancy loss or fertility. We had not discussed this topic before with our friends or at home. After only a few classes we learned that infertility and pregnancy loss are unfortunately very common. Through our research in class, we came to know why they happen and what the risk factors are. We learned about different medical conditions and behaviours that can impact our health, including during pregnancy.
The students also visited Cork University Maternity Hospital during Baby Loss Awareness Week in October 2024 to take part in the PLRG’s pregnancy loss study day, along with their teachers Ms Shelly Whelan and Ms Holly Peters.
Ms Shelly Whelan, highlighted:
We went to CUMH to listen to different researchers in lots of different professions who work in women’s health and pregnancy loss. This opened new career options for some students that had not been thought about before. It was important for them to hear about all the different team members and their roles in reproductive healthcare, especially during pregnancy, birth and at times of loss.
It quickly became clear to the students that pregnancy loss and infertility were really important issues and that they have a real-world impact. They recognised that the knowledge they had gained could help them and their peers in the future and allow them to support other people experiencing these issues. They wanted to share this information with young people but appreciated that these are sensitive topics which are highly stigmatised and might not be easy to talk about. Additionally, through their research, the girls discovered that it was hard to locate reliable information about pregnancy loss for teenagers, or even the public, that was clear and concise. They wanted to fill this gap and create an information resource that was easy to access, plain-speaking, applicable to different types of media and visually appealing.
We decided that we needed a lot of different approaches. We worked in groups to come up with content – what we felt that people our age needed to know – and what types of media might work to communicate this information. We did Dragons Den at Christmas to decide which ideas would work best. Ultimately, we agreed on an illustrated booklet which would also lend itself to posters, flyers, social media, door hangers and to a website, which would act as the main source of accessible information online.
The team collaborated with Dublin-based illustrator Amy Lauren on illustrations for use in the resources, which were displayed on the night. Over the coming months the team will be finalising an information booklet for young people, amongst other resources. The next phase of this project will be to examine how best to integrate these topics into the curriculum and developing the necessary resources to facilitate their introduction nationally.
Selection of images from the SPRING Celebration Event
Dr Brendan Fitzgerald and Dr Laura Linehan, Co-Leads of the SPRING Project
Some of the Transition Year students pictured with the booklet they co-created as part of the SPRING Project
L-R: Dr Brendan Fitzgerald, Dr Laura Linehan, Ms Shelly Whelan and Professor Keelin O'Donoghue (Lead, Pregnancy Loss Research Group)
The students delivering their presentation at the SPRING Celebration Event at St Angela's College
Collaborators on the SPRING Project from the Pregnancy Loss Research Group, L-R: Professor Keelin O'Donoghue, Susan Dineen, Dr Brendan Fitzgerald, Eilis McCarthy, Dr Órla Power, Dr Laura Linehan, Marita Hennessy PhD, Dr Tamara Escañuela Sánchez, Rióna Cotter
Ms Shelly Whelan, St Angela's College
Notes to Editor
About the Pregnancy Loss Research Group
- The Pregnancy Loss Research Group (PLRG) leads national research to better understand pregnancy loss experiences and impacts, and the development of resources and evidence-based advice and interventions, to improve health care (quality) and health and social outcomes for women, babies and their families. This includes all types of pregnancy and infant loss, including first trimester miscarriage, second trimester miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, multiple pregnancy complications, stillbirth, termination of pregnancy, neonatal death and pregnancy after loss. The PLRG is co-located between the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Cork University Maternity Hospital/UCC and the INFANT Research Centre, UCC.
Resources for individuals, families, health professionals, and anyone who needs information and support about pregnancy and/or infant loss
- Pregnancy and Infant Loss Website: pregnancyandinfantloss.ie
- Cork Miscarriage Website: corkmiscarriage.com
- Pregnancy Loss Research Group Website: ucc.ie/pregnancyloss.
For more on this story contact:
- Dr Laura Linehan: laura.linehan@ucc.ie
- Shelly Whelan: swhelan@stangelascollege.ie
- Professor Keelin O’Donoghue: odonoghue@ucc.ie