Emotional MPs have detailed their own harrowing experiences with stillbirths and miscarriages as they called on health professionals not to disregard concerns raised by women during pregnancy.

The SNP's Patricia Gibson urged ministers to improve the quality of maternity care in the UK as she told MPs how her own son was stillborn.

And she was not the only one to tell a traumatic personal story as MPs united to try to break the "taboo" surrounding the issue.

Ms Gibson, who is the MP for North Ayrshire and Arran, said she became pregnant after five years of IVF treatment and that medical professionals described her pregnancy as "textbook".

But they did not pick up on the fact that she was suffering from HELLP Syndrome, a form of pre-eclampsia, despite it showing in her blood tests.

When she arrived at hospital on her due date she was told to go home and the "pronounced pain" she felt was "dismissed as the usual discomfort that comes with late pregnancy".

However, she returned almost immediately to hospital and was described as a "nuisance".

"My baby died overnight," she said.

"No blood was checked. No monitoring took place. No doctor examined me."

Ms Gibson said her story is far from unique and that more must be done to make sure the concerns of pregnant women are listened to.

"Women know their own bodies," she said.

Ms Gibson warned the UK is "failing to properly identify" at-risk babies while there has been "no significant reduction" in the stillbirth rate over the last decade.

"To put the figures into some kind of context, every year around 6,500 babies die before or shortly after birth - one baby every hour and a half, the equivalent of 16 jumbo jets crashing every year," she said.

She called for coroners to be able to open inquests into stillbirths that occur after 37 weeks and for measures to be introduced so that hospital trusts are no longer allowed to conduct their own investigations into stillbirths.

Will Quince, the Tory MP for Colchester, spoke about losing his son to stillbirth and said the only word to describe how he felt was "numbness".

He said: "The reality is, if there is an issue, mums often do know.

"I think it's really important that we empower women and say if you feel something is not right we would much rather you go and get it checked out, have a diagnosis and say there's nothing wrong, you're ok, go home, than ignore it and worry about it and then the horrendous consequences ensue."

Meanwhile, an emotional Marion Fellows, the SNP MP for Motherwell and Wishaw, praised Ms Gibson for her bravery as she addressed the need to tackle the "taboo" surrounding talking about the issue.

She said: "It was while listening to all these wonderful contributions that I reflected on my own story, which is not of a stillbirth but of a bad miscarriage, that I have never even mentioned to my children who live now."

The Government is seeking to halve the number of stillbirths in the UK by 2030.

Health Minister George Freeman said his parents lost a daughter to stillbirth and he agreed that it remains a "taboo subject" despite the fact that 15 babies are born stillborn every day in the UK.

"If there were 15 fatal car crashes every day I dare say the country would be in uproar but stillbirths remain an uncomfortable subject for people to discuss," he said.

Mr Freeman said cutting the numbers of stillbirths in the UK is an "absolute priority" for the Government and admitted the current rate is "frankly unacceptable" when compared to other countries.

He also said it is "completely unacceptable" that the concerns of some women are not recognised during their pregnancies.