FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she hopes revealing she suffered a miscarriage will help break the taboo around the subject.

The SNP leader allowed details to be made public primarily to “challenge some of the assumptions and judgments” made about women without children.

Her disclosure largely triggered a warm response with both men and women saying miscarriage needed to be talked about more openly.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale described Ms Sturgeon’s decision to go public as “exceptionally brave” on Twitter.

Jane Brewin, chief executive officer of Tommy’s, a charity which supports research into pregnancy problems, said: “Despite one in four pregnancies ending in miscarriage, the silence around the subject means that many women who have lost babies harbour unexpressed feelings of failure, isolation and guilt.”

Ms Sturgeon was deputy first minister and Scottish health secretary when she and her husband Peter Murrell, SNP chief executive, lost the baby in the early months of pregnancy  in 2011.

Instead of staying at home to recover, a new book reveals that she kept a public engagement on January 3, 2011 to mark the 40th anniversary of the Ibrox disaster in which 66 football fans died.

An extract from the book about SNP leaders, written by Mandy Rhodes and published in a Sunday newspaper, says Ms Sturgeon originally chose not to talk about it publicly.

It notes: “Had she not lost the baby, she would have been almost 41 and six months pregnant going into the formal election campaign...”

Ms Rhodes says the First Minister has now allowed her to mention what happened.

In a statement to coincide with the publication, Ms Sturgeon said: “This was obviously a painful experience for Peter and I and while Mandy has known about it for some time, she has always respected our decision not to talk about it publicly.

“I gave her the go ahead to make reference to it now in the hope that it might challenge some of the assumptions and judgments that are still made about women – especially in politics – who don’t have children. 

“There are many reasons why women don’t have children. 

“Some of us simply don’t want to, some of us worry about the impact on our career – and there is still so much to do, through better childcare, more progressive working practices and more enlightened attitudes, to make sure we don’t feel we have to choose. 

“And sometimes, for whatever reason, having a baby just doesn’t happen – no matter how much we might want it to.”

Former Church of Scotland moderator, the Reverend Lorna Hood, wrote that her “heart goes out” to Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell.

The First Minister, who thanked people for their kind messages, added: “For me, as for many women, all of these things have been true at different times of my life – the point is that judgments and assumptions shouldn’t be made about what are personal choices and experiences.”