Perinatal bereavement

Perinatal bereavement or perinatal grief refers to the emotions of the family following a perinatal death, defined as the demise of a fetus (after 20 weeks gestation) or newborn infant (up to 30 days after birth). Perinatal loss affects one in every ten women across the globe with the worldwide perinatal death rate at approximately 2.7 million deaths per year. Perinatal death is recognized as a traumatic life event as it is often sudden, unexpected, and devastating to parents who have had little to no direct life experiences with their child before their death.

Perinatal death can have profound emotional consequences for parents, families, and communities. For mothers, the consequences of perinatal loss can be physical (such as hemorrhage or infection) and psychological (such as symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, and other serious mental health disorders). For fathers, feelings of pain, sadness, inadequacy, and helplessness may be masked to assume the responsibility of supporting their partners during the grieving process. Complicated grief, or prolonged grief disorder (PGD), can develop following a perinatal death due to a lack of social support, poor marital relations, fertility struggles, pre-existing mental health conditions, and/or the absence of other children. A lack of acknowledgement and support from society and healthcare professionals of the emotional impact of perinatal loss can further lead to parents experiencing disenfranchised grief, which may result in secretive mourning and heightened feelings of guilt and self-blame. Furthermore, as bereavement care guidelines tend to be female-focused, bereaved fathers may feel overlooked and marginalized by medical professionals, workplace policies, and community support programs, leading to unresolved grief.

Types of perinatal loss

Miscarriage

A miscarriage, or spontaneous abortion, is defined as a "natural pregnancy loss before 20 weeks of gestation." According to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), miscarriage is the most frequent type of pregnancy loss. Approximately 15% of all pregnancies result in a miscarriage, with one in every four women experiencing a miscarriage at some point in their life. 50% of all miscarriages result from chromosomal abnormalities, while the remaining cases could be a mixture of physical, hormonal, environmental, and lifestyle factors. Risk factors for miscarriage include advanced maternal age, history of previous miscarriages, obesity, autoimmune disorders, substance use, and more. Despite recommendations of bed rest, administrations of hormones such as β-hCG and prophylactic progesterone, uterine relaxants, and other therapies, there are no effective means of preventing a miscarriage.

Common symptoms of miscarriage include vaginal bleeding and lower abdominal cramping. However, these symptoms are not definitive of a miscarriage occurring. To distinguish a miscarriage from other pregnancy complications, a thorough evaluation of a patient's medical history, as well as a physical examination, transvaginal ultrasound, and blood tests are recommended.

Stillbirth

Pregnancy loss that occurs after 20 weeks of gestation is referred to as a stillbirth. Stillbirth involves the delivery of a fetus that has passed away before or during birth. Almost 1.9 million stillbirths occur each year, with unexplained stillbirths accounting for 76% of cases across the globe. Risk factors for stillbirth include placental abnormalities, advanced maternal age, diabetes, substance use, hypertension, previous stillbirths, and more. However, it is often difficult to assess the cause of stillbirth if systematic investigations into the cause of death are not undertaken.

Neonatal mortality

Neonatal mortality refers to the death of an infant within the first 28 days after birth. 75% of all neonatal deaths occur during the first seven days of life (also referred to as early neonatal mortality), with the main causes of neonatal death being preterm birth, congenital malformations, birth asphyxia or trauma, neonatal infections, and other birth disorders. Approximately 2.4 million neonatal deaths occur each year, with the majority of deaths taking place in low- and middle-income countries. In 2020, almost half of all deaths in children under the age of five occurred during the newborn period.

Psychological impact

The loss of a child, regardless of their age, is a profoundly painful event for any parent to experience. Perinatal death is especially traumatic as it is rarely anticipated and can defy parents' expectations of the natural order of life. The grieving process involved in a sudden perinatal death further includes the loss of future dreams, experiences, and expectations associated with their child's future. Reactions to perinatal loss can vary widely depending on one's personal, cultural, and situational factors. In a typical grieving process, the intensity of grief gradually lessens over the course of a year after the loss. However, for a majority of parents experiencing perinatal loss, varying patterns of persistent and unresolved grief remain after two years of the loss.

Perinatal Grief Scale

Psychiatrists may assess a patient experiencing perinatal bereavement using a testing instrument called the Perinatal Grief Scale (PGS). Developed by Lori J. Toedter, Judith N. Lasker and Janice M. Alhadeff in 1988, the Perinatal Grief Scale stands as the most commonly used and translated instrument to measure perinatal grief. The PGS consists of 33 statements regarding feelings following perinatal loss and a scale of answers ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree." Despite the development of other perinatal grief instruments, the PGS remains the most consistent and reliable means of assessing perinatal grief for clinicians and researchers. It has been instrumental in gauging grief responses in patients, assessing related psychological and social factors, and evaluating the effectiveness of bereavement interventions.

Complicating factors

There are several complicating factors associated with perinatal loss that can hinder the normal grieving process for parents. In the case of miscarriage, others may be unaware of a mother's loss due to the typical recommendation to only announce pregnancy after the end of the first trimester (week 12). As such, mothers may feel unable to share their experience of child loss with others due to the stigma surrounding child death and the perception that they are not "real mothers." Mothers bereaved by stillbirth or miscarriage may feel that they are to blame for their child's death, or that they do not have a right to bereavement as they do not have physical memories of the child. Furthermore, when child loss occurs during an early pregnancy stage, there is typically no funeral or other mourning rituals performed that may help parents feel that they have honored their child's existence. The lack of closure and recognition that arises from the inability to publicly acknowledge and mourn their child's death can exacerbate grief intensity and increase the likelihood of developing complicated grief.

Loss of Identity

The death of a child during pregnancy or shortly after birth can have a strong effect on a mother's sense of identity. Bereaved mothers may find it difficult to connect to or accept their identity as a mother after experiencing child loss, resulting in a fragmented sense of self. Feelings of having failed to become a mother, being robbed of motherhood, and experiencing exclusion and silence from society can interfere with the construction of maternal identity. Additionally, bereaved mothers may struggle with ongoing pregnancy-related symptoms after their baby has passed, such as lactation, postpartum hormonal changes, and alterations in body shape. These physical reminders of their pregnancy and the child that was lost can intensify emotional distress, leading mothers to feel a need to distance themselves from their bodies. Bereaved mothers frequently grapple with reconciling their identity as mothers with their identity as individuals who have suffered child loss. Their sense of motherhood can feel threatened by societal reminders, such as consent forms asking how many children they have, holidays like Mother's Day, representations of families in advertisements, and displays in baby sections. Various grief responses may lead these mothers to retreat socially, avoid mentioning their deceased child, develop extreme anxiety about losing future children, and strive to create a new normal for themselves while honoring their child.

Coping strategies and bereavement interventions

Coping strategies and bereavement interventions play an essential role in helping bereaved mothers manage the psychological and emotional hardships of losing a child. For some mothers, personifying their deceased child by attributing individuality, identity, and human qualities to them helps maintain a bond and grieve for a real person rather than an abstract loss. Similarly, for others, preserving the memory of their deceased child through tangible objects such as ultrasound photos, stuffed animals, and clothing can help honor their lost child and maintain their sense of motherhood. Grief support groups, bereavement care programs, and individual counseling can further help with emotional regulation, processing the loss, developing maternal identity, and expressing grief in a supportive environment.

See also

• Reproductive loss
• Miscarriage and grief

External links

• Australian Psychological Society - Perinatal grief: a poignant form of bereavement