Miscarriage Collection Cradle: Bringing dignity and compassion to miscarriage care
Find out how the Miscarriage Collection Cradle is bringing greater dignity, compassion and choice to miscarriage care.
Meet Laura Corcoran, Fellow and Founder of the Miscarriage Collection Cradle. Drawing on firsthand experience of recurrent pregnancy loss, Laura has developed the patented Class I Medical Device to address a significant gap in miscarriage care: the lack of a dedicated, dignified way to collect and handle pregnancy tissue. By providing a purpose-designed alternative to unsuitable household items, the Miscarriage Collection Cradle is helping support more compassionate care for women experiencing miscarriage, both at home and in hospital.
What is the Miscarriage Collection Cradle and what problem does it solve?
The Miscarriage Collection Cradle is a patented Class I Medical Device designed to support dignified and compassionate miscarriage care.
Currently, many women experiencing miscarriage are required to use unsuitable household items to manage pregnancy tissue, contributing to distress and inconsistent care experiences. There is no widely available dedicated solution within existing NHS miscarriage pathways.
The Miscarriage Collection Cradle provides a safe, purpose-designed receptacle for the respectful collection and handling of pregnancy tissue at home or in hospital settings. It provides an alternative to surgery in appropriate circumstances, while supporting both patients and healthcare professionals.
The innovation also responds to recommendations within the UK Government Pregnancy Loss Review, which highlighted the need to improve the experience and quality of miscarriage care across the NHS.
“Currently, many women experiencing miscarriage are forced to use unsuitable household items to manage pregnancy tissue, causing significant distress and inconsistent care experiences. There is no widely available dedicated solution within current NHS miscarriage pathways.”
What was your inspiration and motivation?
The inspiration came from personal experience. During a miscarriage, Laura was forced to manage the process at home using a kitchen sieve and a takeaway container to collect her baby, following unacceptably long waiting times within NHS services.
What was particularly striking was discovering that this was not an isolated experience. Around 685 women experience miscarriage every day in the UK, yet many do not have access to appropriate equipment or support during what can be an extremely distressing experience.
As an engineer, this experience created a clear motivation to apply technical expertise to a problem that had been overlooked.
The aim is to provide women experiencing miscarriage with greater dignity, compassion and choice, while helping improve the care they receive.
“Knowing so many women face the same distressing situation motivated me to create a solution that provides dignity, compassion, and better care during miscarriage. As an engineer, I felt driven to use my skills to solve a real and overlooked healthcare problem.”
“Knowing so many women face the same distressing situation motivated me to create a solution that provides dignity, compassion, and better care during miscarriage. As an engineer, I felt driven to use my skills to solve a real and overlooked healthcare problem.”
Why did you become a fellow?
Becoming an NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) Fellow represents recognition that the Miscarriage Collection Cradle has the potential to address a significant gap in miscarriage care and support meaningful change within the NHS.
The Fellowship provides access to the expertise, support and networks needed to develop and scale the innovation, while creating opportunities to work alongside NHS leaders and clinicians who understand the realities of delivering care.
For Laura, it also means having a platform to raise awareness of an area of healthcare that has historically received limited attention and to help turn the ambition for more dignified miscarriage care into meaningful change.
“Being part of the NIA gives me access to the support, expertise, and network needed to scale the innovation across the NHS and reach more women and families.”
Looking ahead
Over the next five years, the hope is that every woman experiencing miscarriage, both in the UK and internationally, has access to dignified, compassionate and appropriate care.
The ambition is for the Miscarriage Collection Cradle to be adopted across healthcare systems so that no woman is left to manage pregnancy loss using unsuitable household items or without the support she needs. There is also a wider ambition to help remove barriers to testing and access to fertility support, enabling families to receive answers, appropriate support and better information about their future care.
Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that women experiencing pregnancy loss receive the dignity, compassion and choice they deserve.
“I hope we can show that better workforce planning is fundamental to creating sustainable services for both staff and patients.”
Want to find out more? Visit the innovation page where you can contact the innovator directly, or check out their website.
