Black women’s experience of miscarriage in the UK.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Black women's experiences of miscarriage: An interpretive phenomenological study in the UK.
IRAS ID
350321
Contact name
Qamar A Hussain
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Canterbury Christ Church University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 7 months, 27 days
Research summary
Perinatal loss is a profound and life-altering event for women and their families (Boyden et al, 2014; Fernandez-Basanta et al, 2020; Meaney et al, 2017). It often refers to the loss of a baby before, during or shortly after birth (Shannon & Wilkinson, 2020). Miscarriage is the most common form of perinatal loss with at least 10% of the population experiencing one miscarriage and 2% experiencing 2 or more miscarriages. Miscarriage is often defined as the loss of a pregnancy before 20 weeks of gestational age. Although research has suggested disparities in terms of how the loss is experienced amongst women of different ethnicities, it has consistently suggested significant psychological impact on those affected (McLemore et al, 2018; Nurse-Clarke et al, 2023; Sutan & Miskam, 2012). Therefore, this study aims to explore what Black women's miscarriage experiences are and what (if any) support they have accessed during this period. Consenting participants will be requested to attend an interview via MS Teams with the lead researcher. They will be requested to complete a mini questionnaire to capture their basic demographic details (e.g. age, gender, number of miscarriages) and then take part in a 1-1 interview. This data will then be analysed using a qualitative methodology which aims to uncover themes within the data so that we can understand how individuals make sense of their experience. All participants will be invited to give feedback on the results of the study. It is hoped that the findings from this study will enhance our understanding of Black women's experiences and contribute to the ongoing research addressing health inequalities in perinatal mental health services in the UK.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
25/NS/0014
Date of REC Opinion
24 Feb 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion