Perinatal Grief and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Pregnancy after Perinatal Loss: A Longitudinal Study Protocol

Abstract

Background: Pregnancies that follow perinatal loss are often associated with mental health disorders, which are not usually treated or even identified. Objectives: The main study aim is to identify the prevalence of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and complicated perinatal grief at different stages of pregnancy following a prior gestational loss. Methods: This descriptive longitudinal study will be conducted with a twelve-month follow-up. The study variables addressed will include sociodemographic data (age, sex, education, marital status, employment status and obstetric history) together with clinical data on complicated perinatal grief and post-traumatic stress disorder scores. Results: The results obtained are expected to provide a new perspective on the healthcare approach to perinatal loss and subsequent pregnancy. Conclusions: We seek to optimise comprehensive healthcare in cases of pregnancy following previous perinatal loss and to evaluate options to minimise possible risks.

Erken Gebelik Kaybı Yaşayan Kadınlarda Posttravmatik Stres Bozukluğu Belirtileri ve İlişkili Faktörler

“…Early pregnancy loss has drawn increasing attention, but the situation of persons experiencing another pregnancy after such a loss is rarely considered in clinical practice. [24] Although early pregnancy loss occurs quite frequently during pregnancy, the mental consequences can be ignored. [7,13] The results obtained in the present investigation are expected to highlight this problem.…”

The Trauma of Perinatal Loss: A Scoping Review

“…Ordóñez et al (2020) also report that the etiology of perinatal loss is not a statistically significant predictor of PTSD, with 22% of participants meeting the criteria for PTSD. When further broken down by etiology of loss, clinically significant levels of PTSD were identified following spontaneous abortion (19%), voluntary termination (17%), termination for fetal anomaly (38%), and neonatal death (67%) [7].…”

“…At one year post-loss, the diagnosis of PSTD was 2 times higher than a diagnosis of depression or anxiety [28]. Symptoms of trauma remained clinically significant up to seven years following the loss experience, and 4% of participants develop chronic PTSD [7,18]. Authors hypothesized that measures used to assess PTSD were inadequate to fully capture the extent and burden of grief the parents experienced [24].…”

“…In fact, perinatal loss was not recognized by many health care professionals as an emotional experience prior to 1970 [3]. Following medical recognition of perinatal grief as a psychosocial construct, studies have since uncovered multiple associated adverse biopsychosocial outcomes, including obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, sleep disturbance, eating disorders, substance misuse, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [7][8][9].…”

“…In response to the qualitative studies exploring perinatal loss which have recorded parents' accounts of trauma, researchers have begun to further explore the nature of trauma following perinatal loss. Researchers in Australia, Europe, and the United States measuring symptoms of trauma in men and women following miscarriage, stillbirth, and neonatal death have reported that between 30 and 60% of the participants meet the clinical criteria for PTSD [7,13,14].…”