Mothers’ experience of their contact with their stillborn infant: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Abstract

BackgroundGuidelines surrounding maternal contact with the stillborn infant have been contradictory over the past thirty years. Most studies have reported that seeing and holding the stillborn baby is associated with fewer anxiety and depressive symptoms among mothers of stillborn babies than not doing so. In contrast, others studies suggest that contact with the stillborn infant can lead to poorer maternal mental health outcomes. There is a lack of research focusing on the maternal experience of this contact. The present study aimed to investigate how mothers describe their experience of spending time with their stillborn baby and how they felt retrospectively about the decision they made to see and hold their baby or not.MethodIn depth interviews were conducted with twenty-one mothers three months after stillbirth. All mothers had decided to see and the majority to hold their baby. Qualitative analysis of the interview data was performed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis.ResultsSix superordinate themes were identified: Characteristics of Contact, Physicality; Emotional Experience; Surreal Experience; Finality; and Decision. Having contact with their stillborn infant provided mothers with time to process what had happened, to build memories, and to ‘say goodbye’, often sharing the experience with partners and other family members. The majority of mothers felt satisfied with their decision to spend time with their stillborn baby. Several mothers talked about their fear of seeing a damaged or dead body. Some mothers experienced strong disbelief and dissociation during the contact.ConclusionsResults indicate that preparation before contact with the baby, professional support during the contact, and professional follow-up are crucial in order to prevent the development of maternal mental health problems. Fears of seeing a damaged or dead body should be sensitively explored and ways of coping discussed. Even in cases where mothers experienced intense distress during the contact with their stillborn baby, they still described that having had this contact was important and that they had taken the right decision. This indicates a need for giving parents an informed choice by engaging in discussions about the possible benefits and risks of seeing their stillborn baby.

Cuerpo y ontología: La muerte perinatal y su duelo en el panorama tecno-científico del sistema sanitario

“…As we have seen in the previous sections, the principal actor is not only in shock but most importantly they are faced with a changed reality and perception of self so completely unexpected that they are disoriented and have trouble comprehending what is happening. In support of other research (Rådestad, Surkan, Steineck et al, 2009;Ryninks, Roberts-Collins, McKenzie-McHarg & Horsch, 2014) most, but not all of the interviewed women, testify that the news that they were carrying their dead child and that they would have to give birth is quite terrifying. Similarly, the idea of postmortem contact evokes great fear.…”

The medline UK filter: development and validation of a geographic search filter to retrieve research about the UK from OVID medline

“…The modified filter was applied again to the trial search on the ‘experience of care’ to assess whether the precision had been improved without negatively affecting the recall. The number of hits was reduced from 2497 to 1307, but one reference retrieved by the previous version of the filter was now missed by the amended draft . This reference was not retrieved because the only UK related term (‘England’) in the medline record was contained in the ‘country of publication’ field which had been removed.…”

“…The number of hits was reduced from 2497 to 1307, but one reference retrieved by the previous version of the filter was now missed by the amended draft. 18 This reference was not retrieved because the only UK related term ('England') in the MEDLINE record was contained in the 'country of publication' field which had been removed. The project team decided not to reinstate the 'country of publication' field because of the increased precision achieved by dropping this field.…”

Experiences and outcomes following diagnosis of congenital foetal anomaly and medical termination of pregnancy: A phenomenological study

“…Baena-Antequera & Jurado-Garcia (2015) defend that following an abortion, the woman should be encouraged to freely express what she feels, to openly refer to the loss and to view the foetus after, rather than having only a psychic representation (Baena-Antequera & Jurado-Garcia, 2015). Controlled studies have shown that brief counselling and a prior description of the magnitude of the malformations in the foetus notably reduce the parents' reluctance and encourage them to participate (Koopmans, Wilson, Cacciatore, & Flenady, 2013;Ryninks, Roberts-Collins, McKenzie-McHarg, & Horsch, 2014).…”