A University of Otago (Wellington) study has found a quarter of women experience a miscarriage in their lifetime — 99% of them occurring in the first 12 to 14 weeks.
Researcher Dr Jessica Yang said international research suggested early pregnancy loss could have a lasting effect on mental health, ranging from mental distress to post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
Dr Yang recently graduated as a doctor from the University of Otago, and conducted the research as a medical student as part of a summer research project.
She interviewed 10 health professionals, asking their views on the psychological impact of early miscarriage, the barriers women faced in getting mental health support and their ideas for improving access.
While the health professionals who took part in the study acknowledged early pregnancy loss could have wide ranging and long-lasting effects on women and their families’ mental health and wellbeing, she said it was not matched by an appropriate level of support.
"Fifteen percent of all women who have an identified pregnancy will miscarry, so it’s not an insignificant number.
"We estimate that if there are 60,000 births in New Zealand each year, there are 85,000 pregnancies.
"So that gives you an idea of the size of the reproductive morbidity in New Zealand.
"What is happening to those 20,000-odd women? Who’s looking after them? How good is their care?"
Dr Yang said the cost of counselling, the lack of services in rural and remote areas, a lack of mental health professionals, and gaps in communication between and within services such as GPs and hospitals, all contributed to "inequitable and fragmented" access to mental health support services.
University of Otago (Wellington) Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women’s Health Associate Prof Sara Filoche said the findings highlighted a significant area of unmet need in healthcare, which was likely to have become worse during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Yang said all those interviewed believed more affordable or free access to mental health services would make a significant difference to women and their whanau.
Making talk therapy or psychotherapy services available through primary healthcare organisations would also improve access.
Many of the health professionals interviewed said it would improve the co-ordination of follow-up care if they had defined clinical pathways to follow, which included links to local support groups and services.
