This was the objective of the Second Conference “Early Pregnancy Loss: breaking taboos, building bridges, adding voices”, held on Thursday, October 23rd, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Palau Macaya, Barcelona.
This year, with the aim of fostering public debate and placing this issue on the agenda in order to transform social and healthcare realities surrounding pregnancy loss and gestational grief, the conference provided an opportunity to present four outputs resulting from the project “Early Reproductive Loss”, funded by the “La Caixa” Foundation, the Institute of Women of the Ministry of Equality, and the Carlos III Institute through the RICORS-SAMID network.
The first output presented, by María José Rodríguez from the University of Alicante, consisted of the results of the first national survey, “Public Opinion of the Spanish Population on Miscarriage”. The questionnaire was completed by 1,857 people, forming a representative sample by age and sex quotas at the national level.
The second output was the executive report and evidence-based recommendations on care for pregnancy loss, prepared by the AFIN-UAB and POMADE-UA teams and addressed to healthcare professionals and health policy decision-makers. The discussion of these documents was led by an expert panel including midwife Georgina Clapés del Barrio from the Catalan Association of Midwives; Dr. Juan José Espinós, President of the Spanish Fertility Society; Manuel Fernández Alcántara, Professor of Psychology and Vice-Dean for Research at the University of Alicante; Sara Fernández Basanta, nurse and Professor at the University of A Coruña; Dr. Ignacio Herraiz, gynecologist at Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid; and Dr. Cristina Trilla, gynecologist at Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, both researchers within the RICORS-SAMID network. The panel was moderated by Diana Marre, Director of the AFIN Group.
The summary and recommendations are available in open access and can be consulted here:
- Remorini, Carolina; Colavolpe Severi, Giulia; Desy, Alexandra; [et al.]. How can we improve healthcare for first-trimester pregnancy loss? Evidence-based recommendations. 2005. 13 pp.
https://ddd.uab.cat/record/320435 - Remorini, Carolina; Colavolpe Severi, Giulia; Desy, Alexandra; [et al.]. First-trimester pregnancy loss: visibility, recognition and care. Executive Summary. 2005. 28 pp. https://ddd.uab.cat/record/320433
The project coordinator, Dr. Carolina Remorini, also presented the book and videos resulting from the compilation, transcription and editing of the presentations delivered during the 2024 Conference, which can be accessed here:
Book: Remorini, Carolina, coord. Early pregnancy loss: breaking taboos, building bridges, adding voices. 2025. 56 pp.
https://ddd.uab.cat/record/321959
Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkBI1FpPxc0&list=PLY3caqGf0TfzeytgpbUd2uMcPRyjAGrsN
Finally, the second series of short audiovisual pieces was presented, conceived from testimonies collected within the framework of the project, as part of the “Loss” Collection, directed and produced by Miguel Gaggiotti (University of Bristol). Both series can be viewed with subtitles in seven languages here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY3caqGf0TfwrcZ7YZuZHYmBQayTN_l5u
The conference also featured two keynote presentations, delivered respectively by Mónica Lalanda (Spanish Association of Graphic Medicine) and Xusa Serra (GestDol association). Both contributed elements and stories to reflect on perinatal grief in clinical practice. In addition, a roundtable was held in which several project researchers (Alexandra Desy, Ana Sánchez Larrosa, Giulia Colavolpe-Severi, and Carolina Remorini) presented findings included in scientific articles currently in preparation or in press.
As in the 2024 edition, attendees were also able to visit the photography exhibition “I Have Nothing Else”.
It is worth highlighting that the Conference brought together numerous professionals from different disciplines and autonomous communities across Spain, whose questions and perspectives enriched the debates proposed in the panels, roundtables and lectures.
Videos of the different activities mentioned are now available on the AFIN YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@GrupoAfin/videos