Early pregnancy support and pregnancy-after-loss care

She is back. The last time you saw her was at 11 weeks, when the scan went silent. She is now eight weeks into the next pregnancy and she cannot look at the ultrasound screen. Her hands are shaking. This topic exists because everything you do in the next thirty minutes — the words you choose, the plan you write, the scan you offer, the way you ask about her mood — will determine whether this pregnancy feels survivable to her.^[1][4]

Overview and definition

Early pregnancy loss is the loss of a pregnancy before viability, and it sits on a spectrum: biochemical loss, miscarriage, recurrent miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, termination for fetal anomaly, stillbirth and neonatal death. Each carries its own grief, and each needs its own care.^[1][2]

Pregnancy after loss is a distinct clinical entity, not a routine pregnancy with a footnote. It carries its own obstetric risks (a higher rate of preterm birth, fetal growth restriction and stillbirth than a pregnancy without a prior loss) and its own psychological risks (pregnancy-specific anxiety, anniversary reactions, and a measurable rate of PTSD that does not resolve just because she is pregnant again).^[1][3]

^{[1] [4]}

References14ShowHide

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