Campaigners are demanding the Scottish Government sticks to its pre-election promise of a separate unit for bereaved parents in every maternity hospital.
Women’s health minister Maree Todd had set a timetable for the introduction of the units by the end of next year but campaigners fear the target will not be met.
A scoping exercise into the availability of specialist services for miscarriage and unexpected pregnancy complications has not yet been completed.
In 2018-19, 4635 women in Scotland required inpatient treatment for a miscarriage.
But currently women are forced to have their treatment or deliver babies which have died in the same labour suites where healthy babies are born.
And the pain of hearing and seeing newborns for mums who have to leave hospital without a baby is too much for mothers to bear.
Before the last Scottish Parliament election, Louise Caldwell, who had to deliver her own baby in such circumstances after two other previous miscarriages, told her heartbreaking story to the Record.
Louise and husband Craig have three sons, Cody, 14, Aaron, 11, and five-year-old Noah but they have also experienced the pain of three
miscarriages.
The couple discovered at the 12-week-scan that their child had died and Louise needed to deliver the baby the following day.
The couple thought they would be taken to a special ward for delivery but they were told nothing like that existed and they would need to go to the regular labour suite.
As they walked in, it was a beaming new dad who held open the door for them with a cheery “in you go”.
And while the new father was completely unaware of the agony they were about to go through, his happiness was like a knife wound to the couple.
Louise said: “I walked down the corridor clutching a little memory box. It felt like the longest corridor in the world.
“I stared at the floor the whole way to try to avoid seeing the congratulations balloons, the baby cardigans, the thank you cards for the midwives.”
Since then, she has campaigned relentlessly for dedicated facilities for perinatal loss.
She thought she had won her fight when she got a pledge that by the end of 2023 there would be baby-loss facilities in place.
But she fears this target may not be met.
Louise said: “The baby-loss community is so big and the numbers are increasing.
“This isn’t a want – this is a necessity for women’s mental health and women’s rights. And it is also needed by men.
"They are dying and heartbroken inside as well so they also need the support.
“From Craig’s point of view, we would have loved to be in a facility where he could have spoken to another man going through the same thing.
“That could benefit men’s mental health as well.”
She added: “For some women 40, 50, 60 years may have passed but they are still stuck with that mental vision of walking through that door.
“Not one thing has changed in 60 years. Yet almost a quarter of women lose babies.
“The government and NHS are adamant they need to make changes but the baby loss community is neglected.”
Louise’s MSP Monica Lennon raised the matter with Todd in Parliament and asked her when the scoping exercise would be completed.
Todd responded that the deadline for responses was by the end of this month.
But she could not commit to having compassionate miscarriage services in place by the end of next year, saying: “Our intention is certainly to stick to the original timescales, if we can, and as much as that is practical.”
Last night, a Scottish Government spokesman said: “The loss of a baby, no matter at what stage of pregnancy, is a significant and traumatic event that affects many women and their families throughout Scotland.
“Women’s Health Minister Maree Todd has met with Ms Caldwell to hear about her experiences and perspectives on improving miscarriage care.
“We are committed to establishing dignified, compassionate miscarriage services tailored to the needs of women.
“The aim is to support the development of individualised care plans after a woman’s first miscarriage and ensure women’s services have dedicated facilities for women who are experiencing unexpected pregnancy complications.”
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
