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The Duchess of Sussex was met by an outpouring of support and sympathy when she revealed she and Prince Harry had lost their second child through a miscarriage in July. In her op-ed published in the New York Times this week, Meghan, 39, recalled how she lay in a hospital bed “watching my husband’s heart break as he tried to hold the shattered pieces of mine”.

She explained how Harry, 36, offered his hand to her as they both tried to take stock of the huge loss they had suffered and said his knuckles were “wet from both our tears”.

Ruth Bender Atik, national director of the UK-based Miscarriage Association, said the very fact that Meghan chose to include Harry in her story marked a turning point in the conversation around pregnancy loss and the “turning over of another leaf”.

She praised the duchess for sharing being open about how the miscarriage had dealt a heavy blow to the duke because too often partners feel “they are not deserving of any kind of support”.

The charity boss said the duchess is “really helping” to bring about positive change in how people discuss what is a hugely sensitive and emotive topic.

Ms Bender Atik told Express.co.uk: “I think it’s turning over another leaf.

“That’s very helpful and so is the fact that she talked about her husband’s sadness – not only her own.

“So, there’s lots of messages there that are really, really helpful.

“When anybody in the public eye talks about miscarriage, it helps open up the conversation, it helps reduce the sense of taboo.

“She’s a big personality in terms of the media and publicity.”

Ms Bender Atik said since Meghan’s tragic story was published, many women have reached out to her and her colleagues to say they thought it was “marvellous that somebody is talking about it and getting rid of the taboo”.

And just days after Meghan went public with her harrowing story, the charity boss said the global conversation around miscarriage has already shifted for the better.

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She added: “It already has.

“From our point of view, the message that we want to get out is to people who know somebody who’s been through miscarriage and are in some kind of relationship with them – a colleague or a friendship relationship – where they can say something.

“Say something like ‘I’m so sorry for your loss, how are you doing? And include the partner too.”

Meghan said she and her husband had suffered “an almost unbearable grief” when they found out their second baby was not going to make it.

A source told the BBC the mother-of-one is in good health and she and Harry chose to speak out about the difficult topic, having come to appreciate how common miscarriage is.

In her op-ed, the duchess wrote: “Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few.

“In the pain of our loss, my husband and I discovered that in a room of 100 women, 10 to 20 of them will have suffered from miscarriage.”

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said of Meghan’s miscarriage: “It’s a deeply personal matter we would not comment on.”

www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk provides support and information for people affected by miscarriage.

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