The Compounding Burden of Pregnancy Loss: A Longitudinal Analysis of Quality-of-Life Trajectories After Miscarriage

This longitudinal study examined how repeated miscarriage affects women’s quality of life over time. Researchers followed 203 women receiving care at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital and assessed health-related quality of life at baseline and at three, six and 12 months. Using the EQ-5D-5L measure, the researchers compared outcomes for women who had experienced one miscarriage, two miscarriages, or three or more miscarriages.

The findings suggest that the impact on quality of life becomes greater with successive miscarriages. Women who had experienced three or more miscarriages had poorer quality-of-life outcomes at three and six months, with anxiety and depression accounting for an important part of the difference. Women with two miscarriages also had substantially poorer anxiety and depression outcomes at three and six months compared with women who had experienced one miscarriage. By 12 months, differences between the groups were no longer statistically significant.

The findings highlight the cumulative psychological burden of repeated pregnancy loss and support providing earlier and more intensive psychological and clinical support to women experiencing recurrent miscarriage.

Publication date: March 2026
Authors: Bolbocean C, Coomarasamy A, Fitzsimmons L, Kaur R, Devall A.
Journal: Value in Health, Volume 29, Issue 3, pages 419–428
Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2025.10.013