Coronavirus (COVID-19) and pregnancy loss – access to care, information and support (updated)
3rd April 2020
N.B. We update this post regularly, most recently 14.4.20. That ensures that links here from other pages and websites are maintained.
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is having a major impact on many lives and especially on access to healthcare. With increasing pressure on the NHS, services need to focus on the most ill and most vulnerable people and we are all being asked to avoid using GP, community or hospital services as much as possible. This helps us to protect NHS patients, the staff caring for them, ourselves and each other.
Early pregnancy and maternity services are no different and are having to limit some of the services they provide. We know this will make many people anxious, so we have two new information pages to help you through at this difficult time.
Coronavirus and miscarriage – your care explains the impact of reduced or changing access to NHS services and where you can best find help and support.
Missed or incomplete miscarriage – information for you focuses on management options for missed or incomplete miscarriage, the physical processes and what happens after the miscarriage.
We have also updated our pages on ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy and pregnancy after loss to help you at this difficult time.
It’s important to know that while most people contacting an early pregnancy or emergency gynaecology unit will be assessed over the phone, anyone who needs emergency care for severe pain, very heavy vaginal bleeding, possible ectopic pregnancy or other acute symptoms will still be seen and assessed in person, either by the specialist team or in the Accident and Emergency Department.
The RCOG have also provided helpful guidance here for anyone who is or hopes to be pregnant, and guidance here that focuses on early pregnancy care.
Support for you
Our support and information services are operating as normal* via phone, live chat and email, as well as our online support groups. We are updating many of our web pages to add information that’s especially needed during the coronavirus pandemic. And as we know that you may feel particularly anxious at this time, we talk about pregnancy loss and mental health here.
(*The only exception is face to face support groups, which have been suspended.)
