The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) has released new guidelines. Guidelines like these are aimed at making more compassionate care a default standard for women who suffer a miscarriage. This effort addresses both the emotional and physical burdens that millions of women carry. Laura Payton, for example, lost her pregnancy at 13 weeks in 2019.
Laura Payton’s experience is a heartbreaking testimony to emotional anguish that comes hand-in-hand with miscarriage. Days before her miscarriage, she experienced mild bleeding and didn’t think she was at risk of losing her pregnancy. When cramping became so heavy and violent that she could no longer ignore it, she went to the Ottawa emergency room.
“I remember going into a bathroom at the emergency room with blood-drenched clothes,” Payton recounted, reflecting on the distressing moment. At just 39 years old, she joined the ranks of millions of women in this country who have suffered the tragedy of pregnancy loss. According to the SOGC, tens of thousands of women in Canada go through similar experiences every year. In fact, they cite that pregnancy losses occur in 15-25 percent of recognized pregnancies prior to the 20th week of gestation.
Dr. Lynn Murphy-Kaulbeck, the current president of the SOGC, has practiced maternal-fetal medicine for more than two decades. She said it’s crucial to understand the impact of early pregnancy loss on women.
“I think one of the things that is coming to the forefront, or we realize now, is the impact that these early losses have on women,” Dr. Murphy-Kaulbeck stated. She highlighted that many women experience shocking and traumatic moments during miscarriages, often without adequate support or understanding from healthcare professionals.
The new SOGC guidelines call for routine mental health screenings and the offer of mental health support to patients who suffer a pregnancy loss. This recommendation is a really important one, especially considering the emotional toll that can linger after such an ordeal.
Under her leadership, North York General Hospital opened the only Early Pregnancy Assessment Clinic in Toronto, which Dr. Tunde-Byass founded in 2004. Since then, he’s been spearheading the initiative to improve care for expectant mothers. Trained in Britain, where early pregnancy clinics were widely available since the 1990s, Dr. Tunde-Byass understands the necessity for accessible care.
He noted, “Mitigated by empathetic communication and supportive follow-up,” women experiencing miscarriages can better navigate their emotional and physical challenges.
To better serve these women, the SOGC guidelines additionally call for more early pregnancy assessment clinics to be opened throughout Canada. These specialized clinics would ensure that individuals diagnosed with early pregnancy complications receive the appropriate resources, medical care, and support they need.
The recommendations focus on improving mental health treatment and access to reproductive clinics. They further push for unsupervised over-the-counter access to medications such as mifepristone and misoprostol for treating miscarriages. Although Health Canada approved Mifegymiso (a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol) for use in Canada in July 2015, questions about accessibility are widespread.
The SOGC’s new guidelines aim to fill these empty spaces. It is because of them that women like Laura Payton are able to receive the compassionate, comprehensive care they need when they are most vulnerable.
