One in six women experience long-term post-traumatic stress following miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy.

This is the finding of the largest ever study into the psychological impact of early-stage pregnancy loss, from scientists at Imperial College London and KU Leuven in Belgium.

The research, published in the journal American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, studied over 650 women who had experienced an early pregnancy loss, of whom the majority had suffered an early miscarriage (defined as pregnancy loss before 12 weeks), or an ectopic pregnancy (where an embryo starts to grow outside the womb and is not viable).

The study revealed that one month following pregnancy loss, nearly a third of women (29 per cent) suffered post-traumatic stress while one in four (24 per cent) experienced moderate to severe anxiety, and one in ten (11 per cent) had moderate to severe depression.

Nine months later, 18 per cent of women had post-traumatic stress, 17 per cent moderate to severe anxiety, and 6 per cent had moderate to severe depression.

The team behind the research, funded by the Imperial Health Charity and the Imperial NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, call for immediate improvements in the care women receive following an early-stage pregnancy loss.

Story Source:
Materials provided by Imperial College London. Original written by Kate Wighton. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.