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

Abstract

Background. Around 30% of pregnancies conclude in a gestational loss. Most women who suffer a gestational loss become pregnant again. However, mothers who have experienced this situation live the new pregnancy with fear and anxiety. Objective. To perform an update of the main works done in the study of post-traumatic stress and related symptoms during pregnancy after a gestational loss. Method. The Medline database was consulted. Articles published from 2007 to date were selected. Key words related to the topic of study were used. Results. The studies reviewed showed five entities that deserve attention during a pregnancy achieved after a gestational loss: post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, relationship, and relationship with the future child. There is a relationship between the presence of post-traumatic stress and the risk of developing depression and anxiety. Discussion and conclusion. Women who experience perinatal loss, regardless of the type of loss and the gestational age in which it occurs, are at risk of continuing grief, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress in later pregnancy. The gestational age and the time elapsed between the perinatal loss and the next pregnancy seem to be the most influential factors in the development of post-traumatic stress sindrome, and symptoms of dysfunctional grief, anxiety, and depression.

Exploring interactions between women who have experienced pregnancy loss and obstetric nursing staff: a descriptive qualitative study in China

“…Pregnancy loss can cause destructive psychological problems [ 8 – 11 ], which might persist into the next pregnancy [ 12 ]. Psychological outcomes of miscarriage include increases in the risk of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicide [ 2 ].…”

Psychological trajectories of Chinese women undergoing pregnancy termination for foetal abnormality: A descriptive qualitative study using expressive writing

“…Importantly, the discovery of a foetal abnormality may elicit destructive psychological problems and negative emotions such as anxiety, depression and dissatisfaction for those women (Kicia, Skurzak, Wiktor, Iwanowicz-Palus, & Wiktor, 2015;Krosch & Shakespeare-Finch, 2017;Silva Lima et al, 2016;Sun et al, 2020;Yu & Hu, 2013). These symptoms might persist until the next pregnancy (Fernández Ordóñez, Rengel Díaz, Morales Gil, & Labajos Manzanares, 2018).…”

Nine Months of Labor: The Psychosocial Weight of a Pregnancy After a Gestational Loss

“…More specifically, the term “shadow grief” has been eloquently coined by Peppers and Knapp (1980) to describe the lifelong nature of grief experienced in isolation. The authors describe a “lingering grief that overshadows life experience at various points” (Fernández Ordóñez et al., 2018, p.146). For women who become pregnant after a loss, feelings of anticipation, excitement, confidence, and happiness, compete with feelings of anxiety, with a tendency for the positive feelings to increase as the pregnancy progresses (Moore & Côté-Arsenault, 2018).…”

“…Over half of women who experienced a pregnancy loss become pregnant again within a year and the risk of experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a perinatal loss has been estimated to be as high as 20% (Fernández Ordóñez et al., 2018; Lamb, 2002). As prisoners in the same body that was the host of a previous devastating outcome, women pregnant after a perinatal loss may be left with the conflicting feelings of being trapped in a situation they also profoundly desire.…”