‘I told my line manager I was bleeding and then we never spoke of it again’, says Sergeant Alison (Ali) Robinson, who has told how she experienced a miscarriage while at work.

 

Now, seven years later, Ali tells how she has helped launch a Baby Loss Peer Support Group at South Wales Police, a network of colleagues who are there to support others going through a miscarriage, chemical pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, blighted ovum, pregnancy termination for medical reasons, stillbirth or neonatal death.

 

“From the moment you see a positive pregnancy test, you feel like a mum,” says Ali, who was pregnant with her first child when she miscarried. “You’re discussing names and making plans.”

 

At 11 weeks, Ali miscarried, having experienced bleeding while at work. 

 

 

 

 

“It was a shock - I thought at 11 weeks, we had got through the ‘danger’ zone,” she continued, adding: “My line manager at the time was lovely, but it felt that he had no idea how to cope with what had happened. I remember saying to him, ‘I’m bleeding,’ and then I went home, and we never spoke about it again.”

 

Ali, now 40, explains how, for three to four months, she ‘didn’t feel like herself’.

 

“I felt really lonely at the time, and it seemed like no one around me understood what I was going through or how I was feeling,” she said.

 

 

“I know I’m lucky compared to others, but it was still a very hard time. It was only afterwards that I realised how common miscarriage is, with one in four pregnancies believed to end in a loss. It’s only when speaking about it that it becomes apparent how many people baby loss affects.”

 

Since then, Ali has had two successful pregnancies and now has two young daughters, aged three and four.

 

“I can’t begin to explain the anxiety I felt during the other pregnancies,” she said.

 

“Every time I went to the toilet, I expected the worst. I thought having had one child, my next pregnancy would be easier, but I still felt those same levels of anxiety when I was pregnant again.”

 

 

Before transferring to South Wales Police 18 months ago, Ali worked in the Met, which has a Baby Loss Peer Support Group.

 

“I wanted to set something similar up when I joined South Wales,” she explained.

 

And so she teamed up with two colleagues, Amy Evans and Katie Aubrey, to create and co-ordinate The Baby Loss Peer Support Group.

 

Any member of South Wales Police can refer themselves to the group by simply e-mailing: BabyLossPeerSG@south-wales.police.uk. Alternatively, a line manager, colleague, occupational health or force councillor can refer Police Officers and staff of all genders and ages to the group.

 

Once an e-mail is received, one of the 17 volunteers, who support the group, will be in contact with that person, to provide vital support, advice or even just a listening ear, when they need it most.

 

“The group not only provides that emotional support but offers practical advice as well - surrounding policies and what leave people are entitled to,” she said. “We also want to educate and help people within the Force to support their colleagues - especially line managers and supervisors.”

 

Ali said that the group went ‘live’ in February and they have generally received a positive response since.

 

“I want to continue raising awareness of baby and child loss, so there’s less of a stigma attached to the subject,” she ended.