Miscarriage is even more common than the data once suggested, but gaps in understanding the prevalence of pregnancy loss and care remain.
In a move advocates say will shape public policy on one of the most common pregnancy complications, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released the first official data on early pregnancy loss in Australia.
The AIHW report Pregnancy loss in Australia: a data scoping study revealed that 30% of women who gave birth in 2022 had previously experienced at least one miscarriage, and 10% had experienced two or more – a proportion that’s remained stable since 2017.
But this data didn’t include women who either hadn’t given birth before or didn’t go on to have children.
The Early Pregnancy Loss Coalition (EPLC) executive director and co-founder, Isabelle Oderberg, said the data was a “huge development” and a step forward in understanding early-term pregnancy loss and miscarriages.
“This is really significant for us. You can’t create public health policy that’s fit for purpose without data, and the idea that it’s 2026 before we get any official [AIHW] data on the most common pregnancy complication is quite astounding,” she said.
“While these numbers are indicative, this data shows the traditional estimate, which is one in four or five, is significantly underplaying the depth and breadth [of miscarriages or early pregnancy loss].”
Miscarriages accounted for approximately four in five pregnancy-loss-related hospitalisations, totalling between 34,000 and 37,400 admissions each year from 2019 to 2025.
People aged 30 to 39 accounted for 60% of pregnancy-loss-related hospitalisations, the majority of which occurred in public hospitals.
Between 2016 and 2025, inflation-adjusted out-of-pocket costs remained largely stable, while the number of services claimed for curettage or suction curettage (item 35643) halved, from approximately 25,000 to 13,000.
The AIHW was uncertain whether the drop in claimed services for item 35643 resulted from these procedures shifting to public hospitals or from a genuine decline in the item’s use.
Ms Oderberg told TMR today’s data release was just the start of the AIHW scoping project, and additional data would be needed to better assess whether trends in early pregnancy loss are evolving.
“GPs are on the front line of our health system, working in incredibly stressful, under-resourced environments. But it doesn’t take much to provide resources patients can read or to say ‘I’m so sorry for your loss’,” she said.
Although she recognised most GPs are likely engaging in this practice, she emphasised a deeper understanding and empathy for the psychological impacts should be further integrated into care.
“With pregnancy loss, we’ve been taught that if you’re under 12 weeks, it doesn’t really count. But of course it’s a loss.”
She said the EPLC plans to run a campaign to change clinical terminology once it secures funding.
“Miscarriage can happen to anyone and any dismissal of it, irrespective of the age of the patient, is not constructive. It can compound grief. It can cause pain, and it just shouldn’t be done,” she said.
Through the project, the AIHW identified four critical data gaps regarding national pregnancy loss before 20 weeks’ gestation, including prevalence, access to quality care, impact on quality of life, and patients’ health literacy.
The study proposed three new data collections, including a self-reporting national pregnancy loss register, a national sexual and reproductive health survey, and a health care provider workforce survey to better understand workforce capability and capacity.
Ms Oderberg said the data scoping study had been included in the EPLC’s 2024-25 budget submission, describing it as a “down payment” on overdue work, which, she said, confirmed what the coalition had always contended.
Miscarriage Matters, a federally funded education and awareness project requested by the EPLC in its budget submission, also launched last week.
“We invite the federal government to work with us… starting with a Priority Setting Partnership to allow those with lived experience to lead the identification of gaps in medical research and understanding,” she said.
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Clinical Associate Professor Alex Polyakov, an obstetrician, gynaecologist and fertility specialist, told TMR that the psychological impact of early pregnancy loss is often underestimated – both in practice and by the public.
“Because miscarriages are so common, we as medical doctors often forget that they have a real and significant psychological impact, irrespective of gestational age, especially in patients who have been trying for a long time,” he said.
“So psychological support is as important, if not more important, than the medical treatment in those circumstances.”
But he told TMR that these psychological supports may currently be lacking or inadequate.
“The majority of miscarriages happen very early in pregnancy, while late miscarriages are quite uncommon after 10 to 12 weeks,” Professor Polyakov said.
“It is estimated that at least half of all recognised pregnancies result in miscarriage, but when we say recognised, it could be a positive pregnancy test, and then the period comes the next day, which is a biochemical pregnancy,” he said.
The most recent AIHW data suggests the average age of motherhood is 32.3 years. Professor Polyakov said 30 to 39 is when most women try to fall pregnant and give birth.
“Younger women are underrepresented in that cohort because they are less likely to experience miscarriage,” he said.
While biochemical pregnancies don’t require medical treatment beyond supportive care, women between eight and 20 weeks’ gestation have a choice between medication, miscarrying naturally (also known as expectant management), or surgical treatment.
However, a surgical D&C – dilation and curettage – usually requires an operating theatre and a qualified clinician, either a specifically trained GP or a gynaecologist, Professor Polyakov told TMR.
“In rural and regional Australia, where there may be only one GP service and no operating theatre available immediately, it could be problematic,” he said.
“Further education and management of miscarriage for primary care providers, along with clear treatment pathways for those in non-metropolitan areas, would be beneficial,” he said.
For more information and resources on early term pregnancy loss and miscarriage, see Tommy’s national centre for miscarriage research and RANZCOG’s clinical guideline.
