Miscarriage Care and Facilities in Scotland: Scoping Report NHS Lanarkshire

Miscarriage management and information

The Lancet series on Miscarriage Matters stated that women should be presented with the available evidence about miscarriage management and be free to choose the management approach that suits their needs and preferences.

Choice of management option

All Health Boards in Scotland reported that they ensure that women can choose their preferred method of management of miscarriage. However, the geography in Scotland has implications for women in terms of how they can access their chosen approach.

Sites in NHS Lanarkshire reportedthat all management options are carried out in University Hospital Wishaw only, however University Hospital Hairmyres reported that they can provide expectant management on site.

Written information

All Health Boards in Scotland said that they provide written information about the treatment options for the management of miscarriage and what to expect in terms of miscarriage care. However, not all sites where women may present for miscarriage care said that they provide written information on treatment options or what to expect.

Two sites in NHS Lanarkshire (University Hospital Hairmyres and University Hospital Wishaw) stated that the same pathway of care for miscarriage treatment is used across all available departments on each site , although there is some variation in the descriptions provided by each site. All miscarriage guidelines are available on the intranet for the Health Board to aid decision for referral.

In NHS Lanarkshire, all sites reported that they provide written information about treatment options for the management of miscarriage. University Hospital Monklands provides no further written information as women will be transferred to University Hospital Wishaw for treatment. Both University Hospital Wishaw and University Hospital Hairmyres do not provide written information on third party services for mental health support following a loss, but do provide written information on third party services for bereavement following a loss (Table 14).

Information about management options

In NHS Lanarkshire, University Hospital Wishaw and University Hospital Hairmyres both agreed or strongly agreed that women were provided with full explanations about what would happen during their chosen method of management, after their chosen method of management and in terms of follow-up, while University Hospital Monklands neither agreed or disagreed (Table 15).

When asked if women are free to choose their preferred management approach based on their needs and preferences all three sites agreed. As most treatment options are only carried out at University Hospital Wishaw, University Hospital Monklands and University Hospital Hairmyres both disagreed that women are offered only the management approaches provided on their site but strongly agreed that women will be transferred to another site (University Hospital Wishaw) depending on the management approach chosen.