Men’s grief and support following pregnancy loss: A qualitative investigation of service providers’ perspectives

Obst, Kate; Due, Clemence

doi:10.1080/07481187.2019.1688430

Cited by 18 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Further, our review highlighted that men's needs also need to be considered by health professionals while attending hospital with their partners as they can often feel excluded [36,45]. These findings are in line with other systematic reviews conducted on the experience of parents' hospital journeys [12,57]. Four of the six interventions included in the review have shown that providing emotional support following miscarriage can contribute to the reduction of psychological morbidities in both men and women [23,37,39,40].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Factors affecting the emotional wellbeing of women and men who experience miscarriage in hospital settings: a scoping review

Galeotti

Mitchell

Tomlinson

et al. 2022

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

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Background Miscarriage can be a devastating event for women and men that can lead to short- and long-term emotional distress. Studies have reported associations between miscarriage and depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder in women. Men can also experience intense grief and sadness following their partner’s miscarriage. While numerous studies have reported hospital-related factors impacting the emotional wellbeing of parents experiencing miscarriage, there is a lack of review evidence which synthesises the findings of current research. Aims The aim of this review was to synthesise the findings of studies of emotional distress and wellbeing among women and men experiencing miscarriage in hospital settings. Methods A systematic search of the literature was conducted in October 2020 across three different databases (CINAHL, MEDLINE and PsycInfo) and relevant charity organisation websites, Google, and OpenGrey. A Mixed Methods appraisal tool (MMAT) and AACODS checklist were used to assess the quality of primary studies. Results Thirty studies were included in this review representing qualitative (N = 21), quantitative (N = 7), and mixed-methods (N = 2) research from eleven countries. Findings indicated that women and men’s emotional wellbeing is influenced by interactions with health professionals, provision of information, and the hospital environment. Parents’ experiences in hospitals were characterised by a perceived lack of understanding among healthcare professionals of the significance of their loss and emotional support required. Parents reported that their distress was exacerbated by a lack of information, support, and feelings of isolation in the aftermath of miscarriage. Further, concerns were expressed about the hospital environment, in particular the lack of privacy. Conclusion Women and men are dissatisfied with the emotional support received in hospital settings and describe a number of hospital-related factors as exacerbators of emotional distress. Implications for practice This review highlights the need for hospitals to take evidence-informed action to improve emotional support services for people experiencing miscarriage within their services.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Factors affecting the emotional wellbeing of women and men who experience miscarriage in hospital settings: a scoping review

Galeotti

Mitchell

Tomlinson

et al. 2022

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

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“…Health professionals and the community ignore and disallow the father´s grieving for PD although it has been shown that PD does have repercussions for fathers [46]. It is necessary to determine the needs of fathers [51,52] and clearly recognize their grief [38,39,47,53]. Although the sample of fathers in this study as more limited than that of mothers, our study investigates the experiences and perceptions of both sexes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Perinatal Death on the Social and Family Context of the Parents

Fernández‐Sola

Camacho-Ávila

Hernández‐Padilla

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Background: Perinatal death (PD) is a painful experience, with physical, psychological and social consequences in families. Each year, there are 2.7 million perinatal deaths in the world and about 2000 in Spain. The aim of this study was to explore, describe and understand the impact of perinatal death on parents’ social and family life. Methods: A qualitative study based on Gadamer’s hermeneutic phenomenology was used. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 mothers and eight fathers who had suffered a perinatal death. Inductive analysis was used to find themes based on the data. Results: Seven sub-themes emerged, and they were grouped into two main themes: 1) perinatal death affects family dynamics, and 2) the social environment of the parents is severely affected after perinatal death. Conclusions: PD impacts the family dynamics of the parents and their family, social and work environments. Parents perceive that society trivializes their loss and disallows or delegitimizes their grief. Implications: Social care, health and education providers should pay attention to all family members who have suffered a PD. The recognition of the loss within the social and family environment would help the families to cope with their grief.

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“…Further, emotional care should take differences in the resolution of grief between mothers and fathers into consideration, as it is concluded by the majority of studies included in this review. Congruent with Obst and Due (2019), it would seem that men’s grief experiences are very diverse, and existing grief measures may not catalog all the challenges and complexities of grief for men such as a lack of social acknowledgment for their grief and resulting needs or the expectations to support female partners. Illustrating the consequences of these differences in the grieving process, Tseng et al (2014) found that some mothers described a deep feeling of loneliness caused by the silence of their partners who avoided talking about the issue, resulting in an indescribable distance in the relationship and a sense of failure in their role as a woman, mother, and daughter.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrative Review of Emotional Care Following Perinatal Loss

2020

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Emotional care is an important part of the holistic labor and should be considered when providing care to people affected by perinatal losses. To synthesize the findings from recently published scientific evidence on the emotional care needed following perinatal loss, a search in PubMed, CINAHL, SCOPUS, and Web of Science was carried out in January 2020 yielding 22 studies which met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed following Whittemore and Knafl’s (2005) methodology. One category on “offering emotional care” was identified: “Aspects influencing the psychosocial well-being of women after perinatal loss,” comprising eight themes: risk of complicated grief, cultural values, perinatal losses in multiple pregnancies, experience of subsequent pregnancies, need of information, contact with the deceased baby, impact on relatives, and strategies for emotional care. In conclusion, the evidence highlights the need of specific emotional grief care.

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Men’s grief and support following pregnancy loss: A qualitative investigation of service providers’ perspectives

Cited by 18 publications

References 50 publications

Factors affecting the emotional wellbeing of women and men who experience miscarriage in hospital settings: a scoping review

Factors affecting the emotional wellbeing of women and men who experience miscarriage in hospital settings: a scoping review

Impact of Perinatal Death on the Social and Family Context of the Parents

Integrative Review of Emotional Care Following Perinatal Loss

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