Women's experiences of miscarriage in early pregnancy

Bansen, Sarah S.; Stevens, Helen

doi:10.1016/0091-2182(92)90142-p

Cited by 49 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…In addition, the women described their use of social support networks and how sharing their experiences with others was beneficial to their psychological state and also helped to improve their relationships. This supports research concluding that women who have miscarried have a desire to talk to others (Beutel et al, 1995;Herz, 1984) but is in contrast to Bansen and Stevens (1992) who argued that the women they interviewed were unable to share their experiences. Previous studies have described miscarriage as a 'silent event' which can isolate women from those around them.…”

Section: Adjustment To Miscarriagesupporting

confidence: 69%

“…This resolution was also characterised by the ability to see the miscarriage as a learning experience and the assessment of the miscarriage within the woman's past and future. Bansen and Stevens (1992) argued that a miscarriage can impact upon how a woman evaluates her life. The results from the present study support this conclusion but suggest that this evaluation is not universal but influenced by the woman's own biography.…”

Section: Resolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When they did get the opportunity to talk about their loss, they realised how common miscarriage is and that was a source of comfort to them. The authors concluded that miscarriage constituted a major life event that changed the way in which women viewed their lives in the present and effected the way in which they planned for the future (Bansen and Stevens, 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, the woman who had experienced her first miscarriage represented the miscarriage as a 'severe threat to her perception of herself as a childbearing woman' (p. 383). On a larger scale, Bansen and Stevens (1992) focused on 10 women who had experienced their first pregnancy loss of a wanted pregnancy. The authors concluded that miscarriage was a 'silent event' that was not discussed within the wider community.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Miscarriage Experience: More Than Just a Trigger to Psychological Morbidity?

Maker

Ogden

2003

Psychology & Health

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2Most quantitative research considers miscarriage a trigger to grief, anxiety and depression. The present qualitative study involved in depth interviews with a heterogenous sample of 13 women who had experienced a miscarriage up to five weeks previously. The women described their experiences using a range of themes which were conceptualised into three stages: turmoil, adjustment and resolution. For the majority, the turmoil stage was characterised by feelings of being unprepared and negative emotions. Some women who had had an unwanted pregnancy described their shock at the physical trauma of miscarriage but described the experience as a relief. The women then described a period of adjustment involving social comparisons, sharing and a search for meaning. The latter included a focus on causality which left a minority, particularly those who had had previous miscarriages, feeling frustrated with the absence of a satisfactory medical explanation. The final resolution stage was characterised by a decline in negative emotions, a belief by some that the miscarriage was a learning experience and the integration of the experience into their lives. This resolution seemed more positive for those with children and more negative if the miscarriage was not their first. Rather than being a trigger to psychological morbidity a miscarriage should be conceptualised as a process involving the stages of turmoil, adjustment and resolution. Miscarriage could also be considered a pivotal point in the lives of many women resulting in the reassessment of both their past and future experiences.

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Section: Adjustment To Miscarriagesupporting

confidence: 69%

Section: Resolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Miscarriage Experience: More Than Just a Trigger to Psychological Morbidity?

Maker

Ogden

2003

Psychology & Health

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“…What is available as a basis for elucidating the nature of grief at this time are studies describing the development of self-report scales designed to quantitatively measure the presence and intensity of perinatal grief 10,11,[37][38][39] and qualitative studies of the experiences of women who had a miscarriage. [40][41][42][43] As will be apparent, the measures developed to assess grief following miscarriage differ in terms of the types of symptoms of grief they include and their comprehensiveness. In addition, although some of the scales to be described have been developed based on a factor analysis of item pools, others have been derived based on the scale author's theoretical or clinical perspective.…”

Section: Instruments and Methodologies Used To Assess The Presence Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grief Following Miscarriage: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature

Brier

2008

Journal of Women's Health

213

188

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Objective:The literature exploring the relationship between miscarriage and grief is sparse. This paper summarizes the literature on grief subsequent to an early miscarriage to elucidate the nature, incidence, intensity, and duration of grief at this time and to identify potential moderators.Methods: An electronic search of the Medline and Psych Info databases was conducted. Studies were selected for inclusion if they related to early miscarriage, used a standardized measure to assess perinatal grief, and specified the assessment intervals employed. Qualitative studies were included when helpful to develop hypotheses.Results: Descriptions of grief following miscarriage are highly variable but tend to match descriptions of grief used to characterize other types of significant losses. A sizable percentage of women seem to experience a grief reaction, with the actual incidence of grief unclear. Suggestively, grief, when present, seems to be similar in intensity to grief after other types of major losses and is significantly less intense by about 6 months. Few conclusions can be drawn in regard to potential moderators of grief following a miscarriage.Conclusions: Although additional research is clearly needed, guidelines for coping with grief following miscarriage can be based on the data available on coping with other significant types of losses. Given the range of potential meanings for this primarily prospective and symbolic loss, practitioners need to encourage patients to articulate the specific nature of their loss and assist in helping them concretize the experience. 451

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