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Women define their pregnancy according to their own circumstances, values, understanding and beliefs. The HTA and professionals in the field consider that any attempt to categorise the pregnancy may result in health professionals viewing the pregnancy differently from the woman involved.
Incineration of fetal tissue is not banned in Scotland, but is considered unacceptable in any circumstance. Incineration against the wishes of the woman is considered unacceptable in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The HTA has developed its guidance to operate within the current legislative...
Yes. Women undergo termination for many reasons and they should not be excluded from the range of options offered to women suffering pregnancy loss. Therefore, the guidance should be adopted by abortion clinics as well as hospitals.
It should be noted that crematoria will not accept unidentifiable fetal remains as there is no record of the consent of the woman. For these remains, sensitive incineration is the only disposal option.
Yes. Where the hospital’s practice is to bury/cremate remains together, the woman should be informed of this when she chooses one of these options. It should be noted that not all Cremation Authorities will agree to carry out communal or shared cremations.
No, placentae can be disposed of as clinical waste in line with the hospital’s usual procedure.
Women may miscarry naturally or pass the pregnancy by medical induction outside of a clinical facility. The woman may choose to dispose of the pregnancy remains herself, and in such circumstances advice on how to manage this appropriately should be available from service providers such as...
There is no legal bar to women taking their pregnancy remains home with them for disposal, although there are certain requirements that need to be met. The women should be advised to think carefully about what she will do with the remains and consider any associated restrictions which might...
The guidance sets out that the woman’s medical notes should record whether information was provided and what the woman’s decision was, and that a record should be kept of the date and location of the disposal. This is to ensure an audit trail for the disposed of remains, should the woman make...
Tissue samples from early pregnancy loss may be sent to Histopathology for examination to identify any unusual pathology and aid diagnosis. These can be considered part of the woman’s diagnostic record and do not need to be disposed of in line with this guidance.