Pregnancy loss common in Australia, but data gaps mean young people's needs may not be addressed

A new study has found pregnancy loss is common in Australia, but experts warn gaps in data may mean the unique needs of young people are not being addressed.

A first-of-its-kind study on miscarriage and pregnancy loss, released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on Wednesday, analysed data from five states and territories.

It found almost one in three women who gave birth in 2022 had previously experienced at least one miscarriage. One in 10 had experienced two or more.

Previous estimates found between one in four and one in five pregnancies ended in loss.

While the scoping study sheds light on the prevalence of pregnancy loss, and that loss before 20 weeks' gestation is common, the data does not break down the experiences by demographic group or geographic location.

There is currently no routine national collection and monitoring of pregnancy loss data.

"Gaps in national data on pregnancy loss prevalence and care mean there's still much to learn about these experiences," AIHW spokesperson Deanna Eldridge said.

"There is a lot more work to be done. This is a scoping study, but this is just an amazingly important first step," co-founder and executive director of the Early Pregnancy Loss Coalition, Isabelle Oderberg, said.

Young people's experience of pregnancy loss

While the data does not provide an insight into how common pregnancy loss is for younger Australians, Ms Oderberg said there was anecdotal evidence to suggest this type of loss impacted younger people differently.

"I think that miscarriage is so often dismissed in general. But I think when you're younger and a medical professional sees you as not necessarily being at the end of your reproductive journey, they tend to be even more dismissive," Ms Oderberg said.

Well-meaning but ultimately unhelpful sentiments around a person's age and ability to have children in the future can make younger people feel like their loss is not real or is not worthy of grieving.

"Language is often the only tool we have to remove the silence around grief because we can use our words to acknowledge the loss and its impact," Marjolein Kammers, from the University of Queensland's School of Psychology, said.

"At the same time, language is also often the very thing that creates the silence by diminishing or dismissing the emotional impact, for example, 'You are young, you can try again,'" Dr Kammers said.

Laura Baxter experienced this firsthand after going through a miscarriage when she was 24 years old. She was using the contraceptive pill and did not realise she was pregnant when she started experiencing heavy bleeding and extreme pain.

"It was a whole different level of pain, and I collapsed to the floor," Ms Baxter said.

She eventually got an appointment to see her regular GP, who ordered a scan.

"Straight away she said, 'Okay, so you've had a miscarriage. We know this because we found', and I quote, 'retained products of conception on the scan,'" Ms Baxter said.

Ms Baxter said her doctor treated her miscarriage as a routine occurrence, and when Ms Baxter became emotional, told her, "I guess it is a little bit of a loss in some way."

She said she was told to "have a bleed" to remove the residual tissue, and was reassured that she was young and should be able to conceive again when she was ready.

Ms Baxter said the experience left her feeling dismissed and like her miscarriage had been minimised.

"From that experience with my GP, I felt like I shouldn't be grieving, that I should just move on," she said.

Lack of awareness in young people

TV personality Alex Crisp did not know much about miscarriage until she experienced her own.

"It wasn't until I was 29 when I had my first conversation about miscarriage because a good girlfriend of mine had gone through it," she said.

She decided to post on social media about her loss, in an effort to "open up a conversation" on miscarriage.

Her post gained traction, and Ms Crisp said she received messages from people all over the world who had experienced pregnancy loss, or who simply wanted to send their well-wishes.

While her loss was still raw, Ms Crisp said the reaction was not expected, but had helped her heal.

She believed young people's openness on social media, and their willingness to address trauma, would create lasting change.

"Social media can absolutely open the door for that kind of conversation for people who feel like they don't have that [support] in their life," Ms Crisp said.

"It's almost as if we wait until this [pregnancy loss] happens to us that we talk about it, and I think we need to shift that mentality."