In this vital episode, Claire Brett, Pink Elephants' Rural and Regional Ambassador, offers a heartbreaking look at the reality of miscarriage and recurrent loss outside of metropolitan areas. Claire shares her personal journey through five losses (including a missed miscarriage) and the devastating lack of compassionate care and education she received.

Claire recounts the profound shock and isolation after her first loss. Seeking medical care, she encountered a specialist who callously dismissed her anxieties, claiming women "overdramatize." She was forced to hide her grief just to secure a necessary procedure, illustrating a painful survival tactic where the medical system minimizes a woman's pain and inhibits emotional healing.

For regional women, the logistics of loss and subsequent pregnancies are terrifying. Claire highlights a massive "equitable access" gap, sharing that she had a panic attack while driving 65km alone for a vital scan during her successful pregnancy. This anxiety is fuelled by systemic issues:

• Extended Waits: Weeks to see a GP and days-long delays for vital blood test results intensify Pregnancy After Loss (PAL) anxiety.
• Dangerous Travel: Accessing essential procedures often requires driving hundreds of kilometres to a city hospital.

Claire argues that rural patients "don’t choose to go to hospital and have no support"—they deserve the same standard of care. She calls for two critical changes to address this safety deficit:

1. National Rollout of Early Pregnancy Assessment Services (EPAS).
2. Specialized PAL Care with unique, consistent support.

Finally, Claire demands that hospitals treat a miscarriage with the same post-delivery accountability as a live birth, requiring mandatory mental health check-ins before discharge.

EARLY PREGNANCY LOSS SUPPORT
If you or someone you know has experienced miscarriage or early pregnancy loss, please know you are not alone.

• For crisis support, please call Lifeline - 13 11 14.
• Access all our support
• Connect through Live Chat with Peer Support
• Join Online Communities
• Call out Pregnancy Loss helpline delivered by PANDA
• Join the Circle of support
• Follow @pinkelephantssupport on Instagram.

STACEY JUNE LEWIS
You can follow our host Stacey on her personal Instagram account where she shares some of her lived experience.

Pink Elephants thanks the Australian Government for their support in funding this podcast series under the Miscarriage Support grant.