Jane Brewin, Tommy's chief executive officer, said fear that the issue will be trivialised by those ignorant of the facts leaves many women too ashamed to talk about it. But by bottling up their feelings, they could be increasing their odds of depression. Those who do confide in others are often hurt by comments that were intended to be of comfort, including "it wasn't a real baby".
Ms Brewin said: "Every woman when she is pregnant is having a real baby, not a bundle of cells or a foetus."
She said it was sad to think that so many women find it difficult to talk to their baby's father and added: "The silence that surrounds miscarriage makes it difficult for women to be open about the wide range of reactions they might be experiencing."
Emma Benjamin, a 34-year-old chartered accountant, has lost five babies and believes talking helps. She said: "I felt so confused and isolated and thought sharing my experience might make another woman feel less so. In the beginning, I felt such a sense of failure, like it must be my fault.
"I believe that's a big part of the reason that women don't talk about miscarriage, it feels almost like a source of shame."
The NHS says the majority of miscarriages are not caused by anything the mother has done and most are likely to be due to genetic faults in the unborn baby. Tommy's will open Britain's first national miscarriage research centre next spring and today launches its #misCOURAGE campaign to encourage people to talk about miscarriage.
÷ The lives of up to 600 British babies a year could be saved if the NHS did more to prevent stillbirths, an official inquiry is expected to say on Thursday. The Oxford University audit, commissioned by the Department of Health, of 'term stillbirths', those that occur when the baby is fully developed, is expected to find that about half of the 1,200 that occur each year in the UK could be avoided.
Stillbirth charity Sands says midwives and hospitals are failing to spot the baby is in danger and not acting when they do.
It wants women and their unborn babies to be monitored more closely.
Britain has one of the highest rates of stillbirth - which occurs later in pregnancy than miscarriage - in the western world, with one in every 200 babies dying after 24 weeks of pregnancy.
'AFTER LOSING FOUR BABIES, PREGNANCY IS TERRIFYING'
Rosie Houston was completely broken when she miscarried for the first time. When it happened again, her grief knew no bounds.
Now, after four miscarriages, she is five months pregnant, but cannot relax.
Mrs Houston, a 33-year-old nurse, said: "The first time I had a positive pregnancy test I was ecstatic but I've never had that feeling again. Four miscarriages have stolen that innocent joy."
Tests done on holiday in America revealed an underactive thyroid gland could be at the root of the problem. It is now being treated and Mrs Houston, who lives in North London with husband James and son Ben, two and a half, is pregnant for the sixth time.
She said: "The anxiety has been constant and even if I don't feel movement for a few hours, I'm on edge. I don't think I'll truly relax until I have our baby in my arms.
"To me, that's one of the saddest things about miscarriage, that the joy and excitement of a positive pregnancy test is peppered by anxiety, fear and dread."
Mrs Houston finds speaking about her miscarriages cathartic but knows many women find it hard to broach the topic. She said: "Losing a baby at any stage of pregnancy is traumatic and all you really want to hear is 'I'm so sorry'."
- Daily Mail
