Ensure you have the best health care provision for you

Ensuring you have continuity of care, that is see the same midwife/consultant/sonographer, feel encouraged to go to the hospital if ever you feel worried about movements and are with people that make you feel as safe as you can be in the situation will help reduce your anxiety.

Some hospitals have fetal medicine doctors or consultant midwives, rather than sonographers, undertake the sonograph from 12 weeks onwards.

Crafting a care team for rainbow pregnancies

Depending on your loss, you may have a follow up appointment with a consultant or healthcare practitioner, who may advise you on why your loss happened, and what could be done to prevent it from happening again in the future. They should provide you with a headed letter which would outline a potential care plan.

You may wish to speak to a specialist consultant or doctors for a prenatal screening to fully understand what to do to prepare your body for being pregnant again, and also understanding what supplements or medication you may be advised to take this time round.

Which hospital do you want to go to when you get pregnant again?

You may have had a positive experience with your previous hospital and wish to remain with them in any subsequent pregnancies. Some people wish to use different hospitals for a variety of reasons – choose the team which make you feel the safest.

You can do this by directly contacting different hospitals, either through the bereavement midwives or finding out the name of the Head of Midwifery at the hospital (google should be able to tell you this). You can put the email title ‘Maternity Care for those previously with a stillborn child (or whichever term best describes your circumstances)’.

You can ask them what kind of care you would receive, and specifically questions around

  • folic acid dosage

  • taking low dose aspirin, (dosage and when to start taking)

  • Any other drugs you may have been recommended

  • additional scans including placental scans, frequency of scans, when the uterine artery doppler scans can take place, whether additional assurance scans can be given around key loss dates/anniversary dates

  • Birth by early induction

  • What continuity of care is provided (such as the same midwife/consultant/sonographer)

If they do not offer to speak to you over the phone/meet in person (Covid restrictions allowing) then ask them if they are able to, qhich could enabled you to feel more reassured.

Different Clinics for rainbow pregnancies

Some hospitals have dedicated rainbow clinics to support families pregnant after a loss. Others have Fetal Medicine Units (FMU), who are led by teams of specialist doctors and midwives that provide care to women and their families who have experienced loss or complications in previous or existing pregnancies.

Some hospitals may have you under consultant care. All options offer continuity of care.

Just because you meet with hospital staff does not mean that you need to go to that hospital. Once you are pregnant most hospitals will let you self refer online, which should be available on their website.

Ultimately your potential care team should help to make you feel reassured, and safe. Pregnancy after loss is an anxious time and it is so important to have a team that understands this and can support you as much as possible.

Thinking about what care you will receive in a rainbow pregnancy could put your mind at ease. Or it may feel overwhelming, in which case do what makes you feel least anxious.