Conceptualizing reproductive loss: A social sciences perspective

Earle, Sarah; Foley, Pam; Komaromy, Carol; Lloyd, Cathy E.

doi:10.1080/14647270802298272

Cited by 16 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Research into their experiences can also inform us about the place in the family, if any, that is afforded to the unborn child before birth and whether, like fathers and the siblings of babies who have died, grandparents have also been the ' forgotten mourners ' . Earle et al (2008) have argued that sociological work on reproduction has tended to focus on success. Much of this body of work has concentrated on mothers with, latterly, more attention being paid to fathers ' transition to parenthood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

By the way knowledge: Grandparents, stillbirth and neonatal death

Murphy

Jones

2014

Human Fertility

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Over the past 50 years, academic interest in the experiences of parents who lose a baby to stillbirth or neonatal death has grown. Stillbirth is defined in the UK as the death of a baby after 24 weeks' gestation and neonatal death is death within the first 4 weeks of life. Less is known about the experience of grandparents after such an event. As grandparents might expect to play an important role in their putative grandchild's life, including the provision of childcare to support parental employment, it seems likely that the baby's death will impact upon them. We argue that existing academic knowledge of grandparents' experiences of reproductive loss is 'by the way' knowledge, garnered incidentally from other research projects, for example, losing a grandchild per se or where researchers have interviewed grandparents as part of wider family research. The experience of grandparents who lose a grandchild at or around the time of birth should not go unnoticed. Research into their experiences can inform about the place in the family, if any, that is afforded to the unborn child before birth and whether, like fathers and the siblings of babies who have died, grandparents are also 'forgotten mourners'.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

By the way knowledge: Grandparents, stillbirth and neonatal death

Murphy

Jones

2014

Human Fertility

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“…If pregnancies relate fl exibly to a woman ' s reproductive trajectory, their losses certainly upset such a trajectory (Bledsoe & Scherrer, 2007;Earle et al, 2007;Jenkins & Inhorn, 2003;Layne, 2003). A closer look at moments of loss and the ways in which women navigate these events could therefore enhance understanding of the female life course in practice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“Passing children” and precarious pathways: on the contingency of reproductive life courses in Cameroon

Sijpt

2014

Human Fertility

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This article explores the implications of reproductive mishaps for the life courses of women in eastern Cameroon. Based on 15 months of anthropological fieldwork in a Gbigbil village, it describes local ideas about the expected unfolding of physical and social life trajectories, and the ways in which reproductive losses jeopardize these anticipated pathways. The life history of one informant shows that repeated child death can create a paradoxical situation in which a woman feels, at the same time, physically old and socially young, and that decisions for the future are informed by these contradictory sensations. The particular dynamics brought about by reproductive loss, then, challenge common views of the life course as a predefined pathway through consecutive and clearly defined life stages. Instead, they reveal that reproductive biographies are contingent and unpredictable, and that life stages may be paradoxically congruent rather than mutually exclusive. This, in turn, affects the way in which women give direction to their precarious reproductive pathways.

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“…The new pregnancy is embarked upon in the shadow of the previous loss. Grief is reignited, along with fear, guilt, dread, and feelings of disloyalty to the previous baby (Hunter, et al, 2016;Mills, et al, 2014;Earle, et al, 2008). Alongside this, there is the assumption that the new pregnancy in some way replaces the lost one, with the expectation that the focus will shift to the new pregnancy, the old one being forgotten.…”

Section: "As If She/he Never Existed"mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With a miscarriage, there is little opportunity for the outward expression of grief such as may be afforded to those who have had a stillbirth or neonatal death. There is no outward ritual of a funeral, or memories recorded through photographs or footprints, which have been shown to have a beneficial effect on the grieving process (Layne, 2012;Woodthorpe, 2012;Bremborg, 2012;Earle, Foley, Komaromy, & Lloyd, 2008). The culmination of these factors, when combined with the confirmation of a further pregnancy, can heighten feels of anxiety and uncertainty.…”

Section: "The Emotional Rollercoaster"mentioning

confidence: 99%

Women’s Lived Experience of Embodied Disenfranchised Grief: Loss, Betrayal, and the Double Jeopardy

Garrod

Pascal

2018

Illness, Crisis & Loss

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2 TitleWomen's lived experience of embodied disenfranchised grief: Loss, betrayal and the double jeopardy. AbstractThe experience of disenfranchised grief has many twists and turns. This is particularly the case in situations that have external cause for celebration, but, in fact, contain internal loss, embodied betrayal and double jeopardy. Focussing on a significant embodied experience, that of pregnancy after a previous pregnancy loss, we suggest that the lived experience can be vastly different from the normative experiences of joy, celebration and 'moving on'. Drawing on existing literature, we find the lived experience of a subsequent pregnancy, instead reignites anxiety, guilt, grief and loss; a profound sense of betrayal by one's body; and the liminality of the double jeopardy. Women maintain an inexpressible continuing bond to the lost baby amidst struggling with the paradox of a new pregnancy. The past seems to contradict the present, and even cloud the future. To understand such complexity, we then theorise these experiences from the Heideggerian perspectives of Being-toward-death; Angst and unheimlichkeit; and the authenticity of lived experience. We propose that phenomenological ways of seeing the world, can enrich our understanding of disenfranchised grief.

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Conceptualizing reproductive loss: A social sciences perspective

Cited by 16 publications

References 13 publications

By the way knowledge: Grandparents, stillbirth and neonatal death

By the way knowledge: Grandparents, stillbirth and neonatal death

“Passing children” and precarious pathways: on the contingency of reproductive life courses in Cameroon

Women’s Lived Experience of Embodied Disenfranchised Grief: Loss, Betrayal, and the Double Jeopardy

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