Pregnancy loss before 20 weeks’ gestation, including miscarriage

Pregnancy loss is the loss of a pregnancy before 20 weeks’ gestation. It is associated with the non-viable development, spontaneous death, or passing from the uterus of an embryo or fetus before a gestational age that is compatible with life outside the uterus. 

This topic includes:

  • loss of pregnancies located within the uterus (miscarriage) 
  • loss of pregnancies located outside the uterus (ectopic pregnancy)
  • pregnancies that can be identified by a positive chemical pregnancy test, but which do not develop into a viable pregnancy (biochemical, anembryonic, and molar pregnancy).

A review of the literature and stakeholder consultations identified 4 critical data gaps relating to pregnancy loss before 20 weeks’ gestation in Australia, along with a series of priority areas for data development to start addressing these gaps (Table 6). These gaps and priority areas for data development have directly informed the development of the Data Strategies for the 5 Priority Topics.

Table 6: Pregnancy loss before 20 weeks’ gestation: critical data gaps and priority areas for data development

Data gap

Priority areas for data development

1. Disaggregated national data on pregnancy loss prevalence(a)

Collate national data on prevalence of pregnancy loss disaggregated by type, gestational age, recurrence and care setting.

2. Access to, and quality of, pregnancy loss care (where and when individuals seek care, waiting times, service availability)

  1. Monitor the availability of, and access to, pregnancy loss services across all stages of pregnancy loss (assessment, diagnosis, management and bereavement), including waiting times, costs and care pathways.
  2. Monitor quality of pregnancy loss care across all stages (assessment, diagnosis, management and bereavement), including complications.
  3. Monitor health care provider confidence and capacity to provide pregnancy loss care.

3. Impacts of pregnancy loss on quality of life

Measure and monitor the impacts of pregnancy loss on mental health, and wellbeing, social experiences and relationships, daily life, and long-term health.

4. Health literacy

  1. Measure and monitor health literacy on pregnancy loss.
  2. Measure and monitor the accessibility of trustworthy and appropriate (culturally, linguistically, practically) information resources.​​

(a) Stakeholder consultations identified clearer separation of procedures for pregnancy loss – as distinct from termination of pregnancy or other reasons in administrative data collections – as a data development priority in future or new data collections.

Additional data development priorities

Additional data gaps identified through the consultation process but assessed as lower priority for data development include information related to causes of pregnancy loss (especially recurrent pregnancy loss), such as access to and advice on genetic testing following pregnancy loss, and environmental exposures (for example, air and water quality, and exposure to heavy metals).

Previous page
Next page