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Abstract:PurposeTo explore the lived experiences and personal impact of stillbirth on bereaved parents.MethodsSemi-structured in-depth interviews analysed by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) on a purposive sample of parents of twelve babies born following fetal death at a tertiary university maternity hospital in Ireland with a birth rate of c8,500 per annum and a stillbirth rate of 4.6/1000.ResultsStillbirth had a profound and enduring impact on bereaved parents. Four superordinate themes relating to the… Show more
“…The use of avoidance strategies led to the suppression of emotions and the emergence of tensions in the couple due to differences in coping between the sexes (Gopichandran et al, ; Lafarge et al, ; Nuzum, Meaney, & O'Donoghue, ). Attempts not to remember, see, talk, or experiment generated ignorance about certain aspects of the loss in parents.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This meant that some of them later regretted not being present during the process (Leichtentritt & Mahat‐Shamir, ):I think [partner] had a lot closer connection to him than I had, because I suppose I see my time with him as, when he was born to when he was buried… I remember thinking he's my son but he's not (very upset). Father (Nuzum et al, ).…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…I think [partner] had a lot closer connection to him than I had, because I suppose I see my time with him as, when he was born to when he was buried… I remember thinking he's my son but he's not (very upset). Father (Nuzum et al, ).…”
Aims
To synthesize research findings regarding the coping experiences of parents following perinatal loss.
Design
Noblit and Hare's interpretive meta‐ethnography was followed.
Data Sources
A comprehensive systematic search of the published literature (2013–2018) was undertaken in five databases, complemented by supplementary searches.
Review Methods
Fourteen studies met the research objective and inclusion criteria.
Results
Five themes describe the coping strategies used by parents who experience perinatal loss. The themes were synthesized into the metaphor Staying afloat in the storm.
Conclusion
Parents use coping strategies to manage perinatal loss and the use of these strategies is conditioned by cultural, social, and individual factors. This study has implications for evidence‐based practice by showing care needs and the importance of implementing emotional and patient‐centred care interventions.
Impact
This meta‐ethnography highlights the care needs of parents following perinatal loss, facilitating understanding of coping experiences. Increased knowledge about these experiences may contribute to the development and implementation of nursing and midwifery interventions that include emotional and patient‐centred care.
“…The use of avoidance strategies led to the suppression of emotions and the emergence of tensions in the couple due to differences in coping between the sexes (Gopichandran et al, ; Lafarge et al, ; Nuzum, Meaney, & O'Donoghue, ). Attempts not to remember, see, talk, or experiment generated ignorance about certain aspects of the loss in parents.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This meant that some of them later regretted not being present during the process (Leichtentritt & Mahat‐Shamir, ):I think [partner] had a lot closer connection to him than I had, because I suppose I see my time with him as, when he was born to when he was buried… I remember thinking he's my son but he's not (very upset). Father (Nuzum et al, ).…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…I think [partner] had a lot closer connection to him than I had, because I suppose I see my time with him as, when he was born to when he was buried… I remember thinking he's my son but he's not (very upset). Father (Nuzum et al, ).…”
Aims
To synthesize research findings regarding the coping experiences of parents following perinatal loss.
Design
Noblit and Hare's interpretive meta‐ethnography was followed.
Data Sources
A comprehensive systematic search of the published literature (2013–2018) was undertaken in five databases, complemented by supplementary searches.
Review Methods
Fourteen studies met the research objective and inclusion criteria.
Results
Five themes describe the coping strategies used by parents who experience perinatal loss. The themes were synthesized into the metaphor Staying afloat in the storm.
Conclusion
Parents use coping strategies to manage perinatal loss and the use of these strategies is conditioned by cultural, social, and individual factors. This study has implications for evidence‐based practice by showing care needs and the importance of implementing emotional and patient‐centred care interventions.
Impact
This meta‐ethnography highlights the care needs of parents following perinatal loss, facilitating understanding of coping experiences. Increased knowledge about these experiences may contribute to the development and implementation of nursing and midwifery interventions that include emotional and patient‐centred care.
“…Further, women were able to recall vivid memories of their experiences even in the context of the passing of several years. Such vivid memory recall is not unexpected given the traumatic experience of stillbirth . Therefore, results of this study offer early insights that specifically focus upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women's decision‐making.…”
Background:The stillbirth rate for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants is twice that for non-Indigenous infants. Autopsy is the gold standard for fetal investigation; however, parental consent is often not given. There is little research investigating the drivers of parents' decision-making for autopsy after stillbirth.
Aims: The current study explored the reasons why Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander women did or did not give permission to autopsy after stillbirth.
Materials and Methods: Five Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women par-ticipated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was conducted within a phenomenological framework.Results: Five themes were identified as reasons for giving permission -to find out why the baby died; to confirm diagnosis; to understand future risk; to help others; and doubt about maternal causes. Four themes were identified as reasons for declining permission -not asked in a sensitive manner; not enough time to think; distress about the autopsy procedure; and unwilling to agree. There was a lack of acceptability of the lengthy timeframe for the availability of autopsy results as families usually wait between three and nine months. This lengthy waiting period negatively impacted upon families' health and wellbeing.
Conclusions:It is important for health professionals to understand the factors that parents consider when giving permission for autopsy after stillbirth. It is hoped that an increase in autopsy rate will enhance the understanding of the causes of stillbirth and ultimately decrease the stillbirth rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
“…Because of gender inequities and imbalanced power dynamics with reproductive decision-making in marital relationships that was expressed by many participants, we suggest that involvement of men is critical to any intervention to promote healthy birth spacing in this population. Qualitative studies examining couples after stillbirth have found this experience is deeply shared between a woman and her partner, sometimes in a way that isolates them from the community [ 26 ]. This experience has also been shown to either have a positive or negative impact on the couples’ relationship [ 27 ].…”
BackgroundStillbirth and neonatal mortality are very high in many low-income countries, including Malawi. Use of family planning to encourage birth spacing may optimize outcomes for subsequent pregnancies. However, reproductive desires and influences on birth spacing preferences of women who have experienced a stillbirth or neonatal death in low-resource settings are not well understood.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative study using 20 in-depth interviews and four focus group discussions with women who had experienced a stillborn baby or early neonatal death to explore attitudes surrounding birth spacing and potential interventions to promote family planning in this population. Qualitative data were analyzed for recurrent patterns and themes and central ideas were extracted to identify their core meanings.ResultsForty-six women participated in the study. After experiencing a stillbirth or neonatal death, most women wanted to wait to become pregnant again but women with living children wished to wait for longer periods of time than those with no living children. Most women preferred birth spacing interventions led by clinical providers and inclusion of their spouses.ConclusionsMany influences on family size and birth spacing were noted in this population, with the most significant influencing factor being the spouse. Interventions to promote birth spacing and improve maternal and neonatal health in this population need to involve male partners and knowledgeable health care providers to be effective.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT02674542 Registered February 1, 2016 (retrospectively registered).Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12884-018-1835-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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