Loss

It was when I was on the examination table, and having an internal examination that I knew that I had lost the pregnancy." The table came to represent a sense of loss and grief." "It was not until my wife had a miscarriage that my mother spoke of her experience of miscarriage. I can remember thinking at the time that an unspoken code of conduct seemed to dictate that you only spoke or heard about it when it happened to you or someone close to you. With the loss of a pregnancy, the vision of the fetus is suddenly taken away. We are unable to understand how such a process can occur. This piece of work deals with miscarriage and the interface between the body and medicine. The examination table is normally seen as an instrument of science that holds no association with personal experience. However, on closer reading the table becomes a haven through which experience and dialogue is transferred." 1998 commissioned by the Wellcome Trust in association with FACT