Laura Kyrke-Smith

I commend so many colleagues for their powerful contributions to this debate. I want to talk briefly about three things: first, awareness, which is such an essential first step; secondly, the significant uplift and support that we need to see for bereaved parents; and thirdly, mental health support, which should always be there when people are trying for a baby, or when they lose a baby during pregnancy or during or after birth. I speak with a bit of relevant personal experience: I now have three beautiful children, but before I got pregnant with my eldest, I had three miscarriages. Three times my husband and I went through a surge of hope, excitement and nerves, the early planning for life with a baby, and sharing the news with a few close friends and family, only for it to end in disappointment. I was really knocked by it each time and was really unsettled, as there was no explanation for why it had happened. I was really frustrated by all the people who just said, “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,” because I did not believe that I would be fine. I did not understand what had happened, and I did not know whether I would be able to have a baby or not, but I suppose I was lucky, because the NHS did get to the bottom of it, and I was then able to have my children. More importantly, I am here today on behalf of all my constituents in Aylesbury and the villages, an estimated half of whom will have been affected by some form of baby loss, either directly or through someone they know. I bet that many of them will not have shared those experiences, or will not have felt supported if they did. My first point is about awareness, because until I looked into it, I had no idea that half of all adults living in the UK are affected by baby loss. Before I had my own miscarriages, I had no idea that one in five pregnancies ends that way. I thank the organisations that are working nationally to change that, such as Sands and Tommy’s, and I thank the groups in my constituency who are doing the same. I want to give a special shout-out to Aylesbury Yarn Bombing, which has covered post boxes across Aylesbury with incredibly beautiful and moving toppers featuring hand-stitched sleeping babies, candles, teddy bears, hearts and little notes asking passersby to take a moment to show support and remember the babies we have lost and the families who have been affected. That is so important, because it is on all of us to educate ourselves, to speak more openly about baby loss, and to reach out and rally around people who are struggling as a result of it. That takes me to my second point, which is about improving the support. I would like to make one specific point about miscarriage, because when I had mine it turned out to be quite a common and treatable issue, but it was not until the third miscarriage that I was eligible for the tests to discover that. If that miscarriage support had kicked in sooner, I could have avoided the trauma of multiple miscarriages. So I really support the graded model of miscarriage care developed by Tommy’s, which would allow at least those limited tests to start sooner. I ask the Secretary of State to look into that. More broadly, we must end the lottery of care that exists for baby loss. I do hear from people who receive compassionate support—that midwife or bereavement counsellor who makes all the difference—but there is far too much of the opposite. I will quote one lady from my constituency who got in touch before this debate: “I am a mother of a stillborn baby, I was full term. 41 weeks and six days overdue with my first born. She was born sleeping. I received very little support afterwards. I was given a leaflet and told don’t worry, you’re healthy, you’ll have a baby soon.” That was that, and it is not good enough. She is one of too many people being dismissed in this way. As we have heard, we need the national framework to set out what high-quality support for baby loss should look like. We need better data behind it, and clear ambitions and accountability for maternity safety more broadly. As always when it comes to maternity care, we need a sustained focus on reducing the pervasive inequalities in access and outcomes. We need dedicated space in hospitals, too. Another constituent told me about going through surgery for ectopic pregnancy, being put straight back into a public waiting area, and then being told there was no bed to stay overnight. That has to change, and I know we are making good strides towards that, but there is so much more to do. My third point is specifically about the mental health support that should surround baby loss. Of course, it is not only a physical experience or a bereavement; it can have a profound and lasting effect on mental health. Research published by Miscarriage UK in March this year found that more than two thirds—68%—of respondents reported mental health problems following pregnancy loss, including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress. Research supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research has broken that down for early pregnancy loss, finding that one month afterwards 29% of women experienced post-traumatic stress symptoms, 24% experienced anxiety and 11% experienced depression severely. This continues for many months and years, and of course includes people with no history of mental illness. According to the baby loss charity Sands, only one in six bereaved parents are able to access any mental health care through the NHS. Mental health support must be an integral part of the support after baby loss, and I would love to see national standards for mental health services for bereaved parents, as well as national guidance for the local commissioning of these services to help end the postcode lottery that I have spoken about. We of course also need the staff, training and resources to be able to deliver these services, which we struggle with across the NHS, particularly for mental health. This is the only way to ensure that every parent experiencing baby loss will have access not just to compassionate clinical care and bereavement support, but to appropriate mental health support, including a clear pathway for referral to specialist services, where that is needed. Ultimately, for every parent and family experiencing baby loss, the response from the NHS and from society has to be one of dignity and compassion, and it has to result in the right support. I hope today’s debate will be a step in that direction.