No abstract

No abstract

This prospective study aimed to investigate the impact of both (the speediness of) a subsequent pregnancy and the birth of a viable child on grief arising from a previous pregnancy loss. Data were collected from a series of written questionnaires. Of the 2140 pregnant women who participated in the study, 227 lost a baby by miscarriage (85%) or perinatal death (15%). In 221 women, the loss concerned a singleton. At each of four post-loss assessments, these women completed the Perinatal Grief Scale. They also indicated whether they had conceived again and, if they had, related how they felt about that. Data were analyzed by means of hierarchical multiple regression. Both conceiving again and the birth of a living child lessened grief. A speedy new pregnancy was only rarely found to be detrimental. It is suggested that parents, at least following miscarriage, no longer be advised to wait a specific time before conceiving again. Preferably their individual situation should be discussed with them in order to help them make their own informed decision concerning the subsequent pregnancy.

This study, involving five level III neonatal intensive care units, investigated whether there are any differences between parental grief following the death of a newborn twin and parental grief following the death of a newborn singleton. A total of 142 parents were examined using the Perinatal Grief Scale (PGS): 72 who had lost a newborn twin and 70 matched controls who had lost a newborn singleton 0.5-3.5 years previously. We found that bereaved twin parents did not differ in grief reactions from bereaved singleton parents (PGS: F = 0.00, p = 0.962). This held true both for the short and the long term (F = 0.13, p = 0.721). Mothers showed more grief than fathers (F = 8.16, p = 0.005). In conclusion, grief in bereaved twin parents should be taken as seriously as grief in bereaved singleton parents. The present guidelines regarding care for the latter ought to be adapted to meet the needs of the former.