 | MISCARRIAGE ASSOCIATION |
"When I lost my baby they said it happens to one in five pregnancies.
But when I came out of hospital there was no one to talk to. I felt I was on my
own." The Miscarriage Association is a National Charity which gives support and
information to women and their families during and after miscarriage. We gather
information about causes and treatments, and promote good practice in the way
miscarriage is managed in hospitals and supported within the community. The Miscarriage Association was set up in 1982 by a group of women who had
suffered miscarriage and felt the need for information and support. Today, we have a network of 200 volunteer support contacts and 40 groups
throughout the UK. We can put you in touch with someone near you who has shared
the experience of miscarriage and will try to answer some of your questions
about miscarriage - why it happens and whether anything can be done to prevent
it. What we do:
Support- If you have recently had a miscarriage, we can put you in touch with
someone to talk to in your area. All our volunteer contacts have had experience
of miscarriage.
- We encourage the setting-up of support groups throughout the UK. We can
put you in touch with your nearest support group where you can meet others who
have experienced miscarriage.
- Partners may have feelings of loss, guilt and helplessness too. We can put
them in touch with someone to talk to about these feelings.
Information- We provide information about miscarriage, what is currently known about
possible causes, and different treatments available.
- We produce a quarterly newsletter containing information, news, articles,
poems, and personal accounts.
- We try to make our leaflets and posters widely available, so that a woman
who has a miscarriage can find us when she needs help.
Working for change- We seek to encourage good practice in the way miscarriage is managed in
hospitals, and in the support given within the community.
- We aim to open up discussion and dispel myths on what is often felt to be
a 'taboo' subject.
Becoming a member Membership is open to anyone concerned about miscarriage - to women, their
partners, relatives and friends and to professionals and organisations. It is
our members, through their generosity, who make it possible for us to carry out
our work. All members receive:- A year's subscription to our quarterly newsletter
- Free information pack about miscarriage
- Booklist
- Invitation to Annual General Meeting where members elect the national
committee and influence policy
- Annual Report
Professional members and organisations also receive:- Free copy of 'Miscarriage: Guidelines for Good Practice'
- Becoming a volunteer
Some 200 of our members give their time freely to support others by becoming
a telephone contact or a support group organiser, by writing articles,
gathering information, raising funds and helping with training. Some are health
professionals, others bring a wide range of different skills. All have had
experience of miscarriage and want to help. "My own experience of
miscarriage was the worst thing that ever happened to me. I realise now that
the things I felt were not unusual, the tremendous sense of personal failure,
and the inability of the medical Other leaflets in this series produced by the
Miscarriage Association are:
The hidden grief...coping with a miscarriage Bl/1293 Causes, tests and treatment: a summary of current information Cl/1293 Preparing for your next baby: a brief guide to pre-pregnancy care after
miscarriage Dl/1293 Basic information pack (all four leaflets) £1.50 including p&p. Bulk rates on application.
The Miscarriage Association
c/o Clayton Hospital
Northgate
Wakefield
West Yorkshire
WF1 3JS  01924 200799
01924 200795 (admin)
01924 298834
0131-334 8883 (Scottish helpline)
 admin@the-ma.org.uk
 http://www.the-ma.org.uk/
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