1. This study aimed at analysing the grief and coping of mothers whose child had died under the age of 7 years. The paper describes the social support received as experienced by mothers. 2. Data were collected using a survey (n=91) and interviews (n=50) with mothers who had lost their child at least 1 year previously. The questionnaire contained questions concerning background characteristics, the Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist and open-ended questions. Survey data were analysed using a two-way analysis of variance, Wilcoxon test, cross-tabulation and content analysis. Interview data were analysed using inductive content analysis. 3. Findings showed that the spouse, children, grandparents, next of kin, friends and colleagues were the main sources of support. 4. Support consisted of emotional support, informational and instrumental support, and consolation and caring. Informational support consisted of advice and guidance from the mother's own mother or fellow sufferers. Instrumental support consisted of assistance with practical issues. Negative support manifested itself in unwarranted interference by relatives in the family's affairs or breaking up of friendships. 5. Mothers expected professional practitioners to provide honest information about the dying child's illness and practical arrangements after the child's death, and to keep up hope as long as the child was alive. 6. The care facility was also expected to maintain contact with the family after the child's death.
The development of basic and further education and of various support measures would enable the staff to better cope with their work. Focusing on interactive skills and meeting the patient's individual needs using reflective practice would improve the quality of care. Communication and collaboration between different occupational groups should be promoted, because mothers were dissatisfied with dissemination of information, and ambiguous responsibilities between different occupational groups hampered the acquisition of information.
The purpose of the present study was to analyse maternal grief and coping with grief following the death of a child aged under 7 years. The aim was to obtain information to understand mothers' grief, in order to support them after the death of their child. Data were collected through surveys (n = 91). The questionnaire used contained an existing grief reactions checklist and open-ended questions. The data were analysed using a twoway analysis of variance, cross-tabulation and content analysis. The results indicate that the mother's grief was associated with the time elapsed since the child's death. The grief was also associated with the mother's age so that older mothers tended to display more grief reactions of a certain kind (detachment and disorganization) than younger mothers. Younger mothers experienced more personal growth than older ones. The child's age at death was associated with more disorganization among mothers if the child had been aged over 1 year at the time of death. The number of children was also associated with the mother's grief. Mothers displayed more detachment if there were other children in the family than if the child had been an only child.
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