Myleene Klass said she has turned the pain of four miscarriages into power, after it was announced the UK government will be implementing the changes for which she has spent four years campaigning.
An advocate for women’s health, the former Hear’Say singer has been backing changes to the Women’s Health Strategy in the British parliament, among which was a call to ensure women will not have to suffer up to three miscarriages before receiving help – an issue with which she is personally acquainted.
On Saturday, the UK Department of Health and Social Care announced a package of new measures to “boost the health and wellbeing of women and girls”, including a pilot scheme that will see medical intervention for women after every miscarriage.
Klass, 45, told the PA news agency: “I wanted to use my voice for something really powerful, but it turns out we’ve just gone on to move a mountain.”
She described the changes as “one of my proudest achievements” because women will no longer go through the miscarriage “hell” she suffered, which was documented in her Bafta-nominated film Myleene Klass: Miscarriage And Me.
She told PA: “As a result of having to live through this nightmare, I’ve turned the pain into power and so much good has come from it.
“My daughter calls them her angel brothers and sisters, it’s like they’ve got a voice. I didn’t want to go through this but I’ve managed to find something that means that so many will benefit from it.
“I think that this is something that I owed to myself all those years ago, every time I lost another baby and didn’t know where to go, I never knew that this is where it would lead me.
“I think a lot of people lose heart with campaigning, but I couldn’t give up because I’d started it.”
Klass said she never imagined herself campaigning until she met Labour MP Olivia Blake, who “was brave enough to stand up in Parliament in that huge green chamber and really put herself in a very vulnerable position” while sharing her experience of miscarriage.
She said: “Both Olivia and I have been through the most heartbreaking experience ever and you do ask yourself why does it have to be this way? why do I have to wait for three miscarriages?
“You wouldn’t expect someone to wait for three heart attacks, they would be given help immediately, but you have to wait for three miscarriages.
“I’ve made a friend for life in Olivia, I didn’t think that our grief would unite us. We’re both working class girls, we’re both extremely determined women and we absolutely went up against Goliath.
“We’ve just called our WhatsApp group We did it, because we can’t believe it, a politician and a broadcaster mum.
“It’s not necessarily the configuration of people that you would put in place to make changes, but it worked.”
Tommy’s Miscarriage Centre at Birmingham Women and Children’s Hospital will launch the three-month pilot scheme implementing the “graded model” of miscarriage, which will see women receive testing and advice following a first, second or third miscarriage, so they can identify any medical conditions they may have and help prevent further loss.
The UK government will evaluate the outcomes of the pilot at the end of this year, it said.
Klass, who has daughters Ava and Hero and son Apollo, said: “I am absolutely over the moon and slightly still quite stunned.
“It means that no woman now, with these changes, will have to wait for three miscarriages like I had to before they get help.
“The changes mean that you will get help immediately on your first miscarriage, tests will be done by your second miscarriage, and if you get to a third miscarriage and still no hope, you will have a consultant who will be able to help you.
“Later down the line, I would like to see the recording of miscarriages added to the bill of change. But for the moment, we are celebrating.”
The changes come after a published pregnancy loss review, which looked at improving NHS gynaecology and maternity care.
UK minister for women’s health Maria Caulfield said: “Our work continues to support women through the agony of pregnancy loss.
“I’d like to thank all the brave and inspiring women who have campaigned tirelessly for change as well as the review leads Zoe Clark-Coates and Samantha Collinge, who carried out this really important review.
“We will keep working and investing so girls and women across the country can benefit from the world-class healthcare they deserve.”
