the times | Thursday November 26 2020 2GM 15
News
The Duchess of Sussex has been
praised for her “honesty and openness”
after revealing that she suffered a
miscarriage in July.
In an article for The New York Times,
Meghan described the “almost unbear-
able grief” of losing her unborn baby
while she and the Duke of Sussex were
living in Los Angeles. She wrote of their
tears, and said that the miscarriage had
left them heartbroken.
Charities said that she had sent a
“powerful message” to others who had
had miscarriages that they were not
alone.
The duchess began by describing a
typical morning caring for her son,
Archie, who had his first birthday in
May. “After changing his diaper, I felt a
sharp cramp,” she wrote. “I dropped to
the floor with him in my arms, hum-
ming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the
cheerful tune a stark contrast to my
sense that something was not right.
“I knew, as I clutched my firstborn
child, that I was losing my second.
“Hours later, I lay in a hospital bed,
holding my husband’s hand. I felt the
clamminess of his palm and kissed his
knuckles, wet from both our tears... I
tried to imagine how we’d heal.”
It is not known where the duchess
was treated, or how far through the
pregnancy she was. She is now said to
be in good health.
Members of the royal family were
told about the miscarriage, although it
is not known when. Buckingham Pal-
ace would not comment but a source
said there had been “understandable
sadness” about the news.
Sophie King, a midwife at the charity
Tommy’s, said: “Baby loss at any stage
in pregnancy is one of the most heart-
breaking things a family can experi-
ence and... it’s experienced by many
but talked about by few.
“One in four pregnancies ends in loss
but it’s a real taboo in society, so moth-
ers like Meghan sharing their stories is
a vital step in breaking down that
stigma and shame. Her honesty and
openness send a powerful message to
anyone who loses a baby: this may feel
incredibly lonely but you are not
alone.”
Earl Spencer, the duke’s uncle,
offered his sympathy in an appearance
on Lorraine on ITV, saying: “I can’t im-
agine the agony for any couple of losing
a child in this way. It’s so very, very sad.”
The duchess also used her article to
make a wider point about the pain
suffered by many in 2020, from the
coronavirus to the death of George
Floyd. “This year has brought so many
of us to our breaking points,” she said.
In a reference to an interview in
which the ITV journalist Tom Bradby
asked her, “Are you OK?”, she wrote:
“Sitting in a hospital bed, watching my
husband’s heart break as he tried to
hold the shattered pieces of mine, I
realised that the only way to begin to
heal is to first ask, ‘Are you OK?’
“Losing a child means carrying an
almost unbearable grief, experienced
by many but talked about by few. In the
pain of our loss, my husband and I dis-
covered that in a room of 100 women,
10 to 20 of them will have suffered from
miscarriage. Yet... the conversation
remains taboo, riddled with (unwar-
ranted) shame, and perpetuating a
cycle of solitary mourning.”
Clea Harmer, chief executive of the
stillbirth and neonatal death charity
Sands, said: “Because it is an ‘invisible’
loss many mothers go through mis-
carriage and may never reveal what
happened to even their family or
closest friends.”
Last month the model Chrissy Tei-
gen shared photographs from hospital
after losing a baby halfway throughThe Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their son, Archie, who is 18 months oldThe brother of Diana, Princess of
Wales, said yesterday that he was
shocked when BBC documents re-
vealed what executives knew about a
Panorama interview with his sister.
Earl Spencer has accused the report-
er Martin Bashir of using lies and
forged bank statements to lure Diana
into the interview in 1995, when she
spoke candidly of her marital problems.
The BBC has appointed Lord Dyson, a
retired Supreme Court judge, to lead an
investigation into how the interview
was secured and an alleged cover-up by
executives of the wrongdoing.
Lord Spencer, 56, told the ITV show
Lorraine: “This isn’t me saying Diana
I was shocked at what BBC
knew, says Diana’s brother
should or shouldn’t have spoken. That
is something separate. What I am say-
ing is that, in my view, the BBC have
very, very serious questions to answer
on this and I was shocked and appalled.
“If I can get an apology out of the
BBC for everything they did around
this then I will feel semi-vindicated.”
Lord Spencer said he had spoken out
now after the release of internal BBC
documents under the Freedom of In-
formation Act revealed how it respond-
ed to the discovery that bank state-
ments had been forged. He later told
Times Radio: “I very much regret meet-
ing with Martin Bashir and I do know
that I am responsible for introducing
him to her... I was lied to by people at
the BBC but it is my responsibility.”David Brown
Charities praise Meghan for
revealing pain of miscarriage
Valentine Low pregnancy. The actress Kate Beckin-
sale thanked her and revealed that she
had suffered a late miscarriage.
The Queen’s granddaughter Zara
Tindall suffered two miscarriages
before having her second child. The
Countess of Wessex lost her first baby
in December 2001 after suffering a
potentially life-threatening ectopic
pregnancy.
Meghan, miscarriage and me,
Lucy Bannerman, Times
Behind the story
I
t is thought that about one
in four recognised
pregnancies ends in
miscarriage but the total
figure may be higher
because many occur before the
woman knows she is expecting
(Katie Gibbons writes).
The majority — 85 per cent —
happen in the first 12 weeks of
pregnancy and studies have
shown that a woman’s age has a
strong correlation with whether
she will carry a baby to term.
It is estimated that if a woman
is under 30, she has a one in ten
chance of miscarriage. This
increases to two in ten between
the ages of 35 and 39 and five in
ten above the age of 45.
There is no sure way of
preventing miscarriage but the
risk can be reduced if the mother
quits smoking, avoids caffeine
and is a healthy weight. A “late”
miscarriage can happen between
14 and 24 weeks gestation and
happens in up to 2 per cent of
pregnancies. If a baby dies after
24 weeks, it is called a stillbirth.TOBY MELVILLE/PA