Failure to mourn a stillbirth: An overlooked catastrophe

Lewis, Emanuel; Page, Anne

doi:10.1111/j.2044-8341.1978.tb02468.x

Cited by 92 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…For a number of reasons, the mourning that follows perinatal losses is distinct from mourning following other losses (Benfield, Leib, & Vollman, 1978;Kirkley-Best & Kellner, 1982;Leon 1992;Parkes, 1965;Theut, Pedersen, Zaslow, & Rabinovich, 1988;Theut, Zaslow, Rabinovich, Bartko, & Morihisa, 1990;Toedter, Lasker, & Alhadeff, 1988;Zeanah, 1989). First, perinatal loss not only violates a mother's expectations, it also effects her perception of her own reproductive efficacy and ability to parent (Lewis & Page, 1978;Leon, 1992). Second, many potentially supportive people may regard perinatal loss as less important or less meaningful than losses of other kinds (Danis & Zeanah, 1991).…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Second, many potentially supportive people may regard perinatal loss as less important or less meaningful than losses of other kinds (Danis & Zeanah, 1991). Third, is has been found that healthy resolution of mourning following perinatal loss is more difficult than that following other losses because of the paucity of memories available to adults whose infant dies (Kennell & Trause, 1978;Lewis, 1979;Lewis & Page, 1978). Memories facilitate the process of mourning, but following the death of a newborn, there is so little for mothers to remember that it may be difficult for them to resolve the loss.…”

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confidence: 95%

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Attachment disturbances in infants born subsequent to perinatal loss: A pilot study

Heller

Zeanah

1999

Infant Ment. Health J.

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Mothers who have lost a baby in the perinatal period may experience relationship disturbances with infants born subsequently. This study involved mothers who had delivered a child within 19 months of losing a baby in the perinatal period. Mothers were assessed 2 months after the loss with a clinical interview. When the child born subsequent to the loss was 12 months old, the mother–child attachment relationship was assessed, and 45% of the infants had disorganized attachments to their mothers. This was significantly higher than the expected rate of 15% disorganized attachments in other middle‐class samples. Based on narrative descriptions of the loss experience, measures of mothers' resolution of loss and experience of support were not related to infant attachment. Mothers who accepted more responsibility for their own grief were more likely to have subsequent infants with secure attachments to them.

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confidence: 93%

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Attachment disturbances in infants born subsequent to perinatal loss: A pilot study

Heller

Zeanah

1999

Infant Ment. Health J.

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“…Either way, some of the issues discussed in the workbook could be interpreted as psychologically provocative, whether or not the learner has encountered a perinatal loss at a professional or personal level. The following student acknowledges this affect: Parents declining opportunity to hold their deceased infant may affect the course of grieving in unproductive ways (Lewis, 1976(Lewis, , 1979, with evidence embedded in clinical accounts of parents treated for psychological problems post stillbirth (Lewis, 1978;Bourne & Lewis, 1984). In response, an eruption of papers, books, and seminars espousing necessity for parent/infant contact post stillbirth now underpin bereavement protocols in the UK maternity units (e.g., Kelly, 2007;Mander, 2006;SANDS, 2009 …”

Section: The Workbook Helped You To Understand the Grief Process And mentioning

confidence: 99%

An evaluative survey to assess the effectiveness of using an interactive workbook to deliver bereavement education to undergraduate student midwives

et al. 2014

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“…Moreover, the subsequent child is idealized in a way which could be regarded as a maladaptive behavior, one of the key signs of masked grief [43]. In two studies the "replacement child syndrome" is used as a possible indicator of pathological grief [60,61]. In these studies an over-idealization of the dead infant and not seeing the subsequent child as a separate individual are used as key signs of pathological grief.…”

Section: Defining and Assessing Pathological Grief Following Pregnancmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Critical Review of the Concept of Pathological Grief following Pregnancy Loss

1996

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It has often been suggested in the literature on pregnancy loss, that parents run a high risk of complicated or pathological grief as a result of the specific characteristics of such loss. What confuses the issue is that pathological grief has been defined in various ways. In the interest of improving professional care, it is important to ascertain how pathological grief manifests itself and which parents are most likely to have problems coping with pregnancy loss and therefore develop pathological grief reactions. Given the lack of clarity regarding the concept of pathological grief following pregnancy loss, this article reviews empirical studies on pathological grief following pregnancy loss according to four subtypes derived from general bereavement literature: chronic grief, delayed grief, masked grief, and exaggerated grief. It can be concluded that in the first six months following pregnancy loss, psychological complaints, behavioral changes, and somatic complaints are fairly common responses. Approximately 10-to-15 percent of the women develop a psychiatric disorder during the first two years following such loss, and less than 10 percent seek specific psychiatric care. Parents often mourn the loss of their baby for more than a year; one in five women is unable to accept pregnancy loss after approximately two years. A delayed grief reaction occurs in about 4 percent of parents and seems to occur most often in men. It is suggested that developing pathological grief following pregnancy loss may be more uncommon than had previously been thought, and the long-held idea that parents run a higher risk of pathological grief following pregnancy loss seems partly to result from flaws in the empirical studies in this field. A large majority of women seem to be able to recover from pregnancy loss in due time, drawing on their own strength.

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Failure to mourn a stillbirth: An overlooked catastrophe

Cited by 92 publications

References 2 publications

Attachment disturbances in infants born subsequent to perinatal loss: A pilot study

Attachment disturbances in infants born subsequent to perinatal loss: A pilot study

An evaluative survey to assess the effectiveness of using an interactive workbook to deliver bereavement education to undergraduate student midwives

A Critical Review of the Concept of Pathological Grief following Pregnancy Loss

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