My daughter's daughter: the tragedy of late stage miscarriage
Hughes, T.
Practising Midwife 17(4): 9-11
2014
ISSN/ISBN: 1461-3123 PMID: 24804414 Document Number: 673873
This article sets out my observations of my daughter's difficult pregnancy and late-stage miscarriage. I share this information to raise awareness that the specialist support for women going through this is not always in place and doesn't fully prepare women for this experience. Even though this can be uncomfortable for maternity professionals, the care that women receive, especially during labour and birth, has a massive impact on them and their families. There are many opportunities for midwives to make a positive difference at this difficult time. My granddaughter, Jess, died at five months gestation and was later confirmed to have Turner Syndrome. Turner Syndrome is a chromosomal abnormality that only affects girls and is related to the partial or complete deletion of the X chromosome. Not all affected girls are miscarried and an estimated one in 2000 girls born in the UK has Turner Syndrome.