A 3-MONTH FOLLOW-UP OF PSYCHOLOGICAL MORBIDITY AFTER EARLY MISCARRIAGE

The loss of a pregnancy in the first trimester is a common event and r ecent research has identified high levels of psychological distress am ongst women who have miscarried. We believe this study is the first to examine the phenomenon from a longitudinal perspective using standard ized measures. A sample of 65 women was rated for anxiety and depressi on using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale at intervals of one , six and 12 weeks following early miscarriage. The results indicate t hat a large proportion of the sample had clinically important levels o f anxiety (41 per cent) and depression (22 per cent) in the first week following miscarriage, which declined to 32 per cent and 6 per cent r espectively by the 12th week, No association was observed between leve ls of psychological morbidity and a number of social and obstetric var iables, the only exception being whether or not the pregnancy had been planned. These results are discussed with reference to the relevant l iterature. The possible implications for further research and clinical practice are addressed.