By Dr. Archna Gupta, scientist with MAP’s Upstream Lab
Why better miscarriage care matters — and what we’re building to help
As a family physician, family medicine obstetrics provider, and researcher, I care for people through many important stages of pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. That work is deeply meaningful to me. But over the years, I have also seen a serious gap in care for people who experience miscarriage — a common event that is still too often met with confusion, long waits, and too little support.
Early pregnancy loss, also known as miscarriage, affects up to one in four pregnancies in Canada, most often in the first trimester. Yet many individuals and families still struggle to get timely information, appropriate follow-up, and compassionate care when they need it most. In many cases, people turn to emergency departments for help, even though those settings are not designed to provide the kind of specialized, continuous support that miscarriage care often requires. The result can be repeated visits, unclear next steps, and missed opportunities to support both physical and emotional well-being.
That is why I am so excited to share that my team and I have received a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Catalyst Grant, “Transforming Early Pregnancy Loss Care: Co-Designing Patient-Centred Solutions”, to help improve care for people experiencing early pregnancy loss. The grant supports work that brings together patients, health-care providers, and community partners to rethink how care is delivered and how support can be made easier to access.
Our project will explore what people go through when they seek care after a miscarriage, where the biggest barriers exist, and what a better system could look like. We will work with people with lived experience, healthcare providers, and health system leaders to map patient journeys, identify gaps in current services, and learn from promising care models in Canada and beyond. We will also co-create a digital information platform, connected with the Pregnancy and Infant Loss (PAIL) Network, so people can more easily find clear guidance on what is happening, when to seek medical care, and where to turn for support.
At the heart of this work is a simple goal: no one should have to face early pregnancy loss feeling alone, unsupported, or unsure where to go. By building care with patients and communities — not just for them — we hope to create practical tools and services that are more compassionate, more accessible, and better able to meet people’s real needs across Ontario and across Canada.