The Unique Experiences of Women and Their Families After the Death of a Baby
- 17 February 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Social Work in Health Care
- Vol. 49 (2), 134-148
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00981380903158078
Abstract
This study sought to discover the ways in which the woman's experience of a baby's death affects her as an individual and within the family system. More specifically, this study asked: Does a woman's experience of stillbirth appear to have long-lasting effects, and what variables influence such changes? Expressed through their own narratives, it appears that a baby's death has long-lasting effects for a woman. Variables that affect her perceptual experience include social support, legitimization of her loss, opportunities for rituals, and existential emotions such as shame and guilt. Results revealed that enhanced understanding of the experience and psychosocial support may help some women and their family systems cope with the long-term effects of this loss.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- The effects of social support on maternal anxiety and depression after stillbirthHealth & Social Care in the Community, 2009
- From the National Institute of Nursing Research—Annotated Bibliography of NINR Findings on Women’s Health Across the Life Span: 2006 UpdateJournal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 2006
- The Silent Child—Mothers’ Experiences Before, During, and after StillbirthBirth, 2004
- Stillbirth: a reviewThe Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, 2004
- The Nature of the Mother's Tie to Her Infant: Maternal Bonding under Conditions of Proximity, Separation, and Potential LossJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1999
- Perinatal Death: Helping Parents Find Their WayJournal of Family Nursing, 1997
- Parents’ Experience Surrounding the Death of a Newborn Whose Birth Is at the Margin of ViabilityJournal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 1997
- Academic rigour in the lived experience of researchers using phenomenological methods in nursing in nursingJournal of Advanced Nursing, 1995
- The Psychological Effects of a Stillbirth on Surviving Family MembersOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 1991
- Some questions of identity: Late miscarriage, stillbirth and perinatal lossSocial Science & Medicine (1982), 1983