Support and destigmatization in early pregnancy loss in Spain

Abstract

Abstract Early miscarriages are a frequent reproductive event, often silenced and shrouded in stigma. Feminist anthropology has pointed out how such losses challenge the widespread Euro‐American social representations of motherhood and pregnancy, as well as societal unease with death. This article draws on a project focusing on the experiences and needs of those who undergo a miscarriage during the first trimester in Spain, based on 580 h of participant observation in ob‐gyn care and 60 interviews. In Spain, several grassroots organizations offer peer support and try to act upon silence and stigma around pregnancy losses, with an impact on the biomedical sphere that has led to the development of guidelines for pregnancy loss care. However, in our article we will show that support is mostly built on a grief model, leaving specific support needs for first trimester miscarriages uncovered at both the emotional and medical level. This grief‐centered support, overlook the distinct embodied and social experiences of early pregnancy endings, inadvertently deepening the very hierarchy of loss it aims to counteract. In doing so, we address a gap in feminist anthropological research by mapping the stigmatization processes and unmet support needs hidden beneath the widespread call to break the silence.