Nicola Sturgeon says she attended memorial service while still having a miscarriage

Outgoing first minister spoke of her traumatic experience when she appeared on Loose Women

Scotland’s first minister has told of how she attended a memorial service while still having a miscarriage.

Nicola Sturgeon has been open about losing a baby in the past but provided more detail in an interview on the ITV show Loose Women.

Speaking to the hosts, the first minister was asked how she could deal with such a traumatic experience and continue being a politician.

“If you go online and google, you can find a photograph of me at an event, actually while I’m still having a miscarriage, a public commemoration for a disaster that happened many decades ago in Scotland,” she said.

“Looking at me, looking at that photograph now, it’s clear I’m in a lot of pain.”

Nicola Sturgeon during the service to commemorate the 40th anniversary memorial of the Ibrox disaster (Getty)

Ms Sturgeon had earlier said the miscarriage had happened “at the very end of Hogmanay in 2010” and she attended the memorial for the 40th anniversary of the Ibrox disaster on 3 January 2011.

The 1971 Ibrox disaster was a crush among the crowd at a Rangers v Celtic football game, which led to 66 deaths and more than 200 injuries.

Addressing how she dealt with the loss, the first minister said: “I can only speak for myself, but I think it’s more common than just me – you just bury it.

“You effectively don’t deal with it, you don’t process it.

“I’ve been doing that to one extent or another for all my adult life.”

She added that the Baby Loss Memorial Book – an initiative she launched last week – may have helped her to deal with her experience.