Maternal Grieving and the Perception of and Attachment to Children Born Subsequent to a Perinatal Loss

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between maternal grieving for perinatal loss (PL) and the perception of and attachment to children born subsequent to a recent PL among mothers in Jordan. A cross-sectional, descriptive correlational design was used. A convenience sample of 190 mothers of full-term, healthy newborns born subsequent to a recent PL was recruited from seven Maternal and Child Health Care Centers in Jordan. These mothers were assessed using the Perinatal Grief Scale (L.J. Toedter, J.N. Lasker, & J.M. Alhadeff), 1988, the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (J.T. Condon & C.J. Corkindale, 1998), and the Neonatal Perception Inventory II (E. Broussard, 1979). Results showed a significant negative relationship between grief intensity and the attachment level, r = -.37, p = .000, and a significant positive relationship between the attachment level and neonatal perception, r = .28, p = .000. Mothers' grief intensity was significantly affected by their demographic characteristics; however, there was no significant relationship between grief intensity and neonatal perception, r = .23, p = .23. Perinatal grief was negatively related to maternal attachment to the subsequent child. Nurses should address bereaved mothers and their children who might be at risk for developing attachment disturbances to facilitate positive adaptation to the subsequent pregnancy and parenthood.

Integrative Review of Emotional Care Following Perinatal Loss

“…The phenomenological qualitative study carried out by Meaney, Corcoran, Spillane, et al (2017) about the experience of miscarriage indicates that this experience has a considerable impact on men and women, and the participants stated that it was important the acknowledgment of the loss by health professionals and more broadly throughout society. However, perinatal or neonatal losses are not socially recognized or viewed as a significant problem, for this reason, the grieving may not be recognized openly, there may not be public grief or be socially accepted (Al-Maharma et al, 2016; Camacho-Ávila et al, 2020). As shown in one qualitative study based on the Gadamer’s hermeneutic phenomenology (Camacho-Ávila et al, 2020), the feeling of biological failure and shame experienced by the mothers made them feel socially stigmatized and avoid contact with other people in their surroundings.…”

“…As a consequence of previous perinatal losses, subsequent pregnancies may be experienced with anxiety and fear by parents. In four of the analyzed studies, the authors focused on the emotional needs in new pregnancies of couples who had previously suffered a perinatal loss (Al-Maharma et al, 2016; Hutti et al, 2015; Meaney, Corcoran, Spillane, et al, 2017; Meaney, Everard, et al, 2017). According to a correlational descriptive study (with over 225 pregnant women who had suffered perinatal loss in an immediate past pregnancy) by Hutti et al (2015), for many parents, the negative consequences of a perinatal loss often extend to the next pregnancy.…”

Post-traumatic stress and related symptoms in a gestation after a gestational loss: narrative review

“…More scarce are the studies that analyze these consequences in pregnancies that take place after a gestational loss, with similar results (Al-Maharma, Abujaradeh, Mahmoud, & Jarrad, 2016;Brooten et al, 2015;Chojenta et al, 2014;Üstündağ-Budak, Larkin, Harris, & Blissett, 2015).…”

Prenatal Predictors of Maternal-infant Attachment

“…Particular consideration is warranted for women who have experienced previous perinatal loss (i.e., intra-uterine fetal death 20 weeks gestation or neonatal death 28 days of life), given that the experience of bereavement has been shown to have a bearing on the relationship with a subsequent child (Al-Maharma et al, 2016;O'Leary, 2004;Taavoni et al, 2008). A possible reason for this is that previous perinatal loss has been associated with higher levels of grief, anxiety, and depression (Gaudet et al, 2010;Hunfeld et al, 1997), and that, theoretically, unresolved grief may carry over into the subsequent pregnancy and influence maternal-infant attachment (O'Leary, 2004;Robinson et al, 1999).…”