Nomenclature for papers relating to early pregnancy in the BMJ
I read with interest the article by Chisolm and Payne on the management of psychotropic drugs in pregnancy. It is an important subject and is an excellent review. My rapid response is not really for the authors - but rather to the editors of the BMJ. Certainly in the United Kingdom there has been for some time a view that the term "spontaneous abortion" should be avoided and the term "spontaneous miscarriage" used instead. This has become established nomenclature when publishing in European journals, though not in the United States (1). This change has been supported by patient support groups such as the miscarriage association and the United Kingdom association of early pregnancy units (2). In future perhaps the BMJ would consider adopting this nomenclature in future papers relating to early pregnancy as they go through the editorial phase.
1. Farquharson RG, Jauniaux E, Exalto N; ESHRE Special Interest Group for Early Pregnancy (SIGEP).Updated and revised nomenclature for description of early pregnancy events.
Hum Reprod. 2005 Nov;20(11):3008-11.
Rapid Response:
Nomenclature for papers relating to early pregnancy in the BMJ
I read with interest the article by Chisolm and Payne on the management of psychotropic drugs in pregnancy. It is an important subject and is an excellent review. My rapid response is not really for the authors - but rather to the editors of the BMJ. Certainly in the United Kingdom there has been for some time a view that the term "spontaneous abortion" should be avoided and the term "spontaneous miscarriage" used instead. This has become established nomenclature when publishing in European journals, though not in the United States (1). This change has been supported by patient support groups such as the miscarriage association and the United Kingdom association of early pregnancy units (2). In future perhaps the BMJ would consider adopting this nomenclature in future papers relating to early pregnancy as they go through the editorial phase.
1. Farquharson RG, Jauniaux E, Exalto N; ESHRE Special Interest Group for Early Pregnancy (SIGEP).Updated and revised nomenclature for description of early pregnancy events.
Hum Reprod. 2005 Nov;20(11):3008-11.
2. http://www.earlypregnancy.org.uk/news/NewsItem.asp?ID=6 accessed 6th February 2016
Competing interests: No competing interests