This UK project report examined which pregnancy loss terms are considered acceptable or unacceptable by people with recent lived experience, with the aim of improving language used in policy, public health information, websites, leaflets and other mass communication contexts. The study used an online REDCap survey with structured questions about pregnancy loss terminology. Eligible participants had experienced pregnancy loss in the previous three years and had accessed healthcare in the UK as a result of that loss. The survey was started by 664 people and completed in full by 391.
The report found that there is no single approach to pregnancy loss language that will work for everyone, but some terms were clearly viewed as more harmful than others. Terms such as “spontaneous abortion”, “incompetent cervix”, “cervical incompetence”, “products”, “contents of the womb/uterus” and “tissue” were rated unacceptable by many respondents, while terms such as “pregnancy loss”, “baby” and using the baby’s given name were more widely accepted. The authors recommend evidence-based language choices for contexts where individual language preferences cannot be accommodated, while still recognising that personalised language is important in clinical care.
Authors: Beth Malory, Louise Nuttall
Publication date: November 2024
Publication: Acceptability in Pregnancy Loss Language — SuPPL Project Final Report, Survey of English Usage, University College London
Link to paper: UCL final report PDF