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Cited by 12Grief, Bereavement, and Mental HealthDeath, Funerary Practices, and MourningGlobal Maternal and Child Health

From mourning to memorialising – a lasting connection through remembrance: the role of memory making in preserving the identity of parenthood amongst women who have suffered a perinatal bereavement

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Payne, Elana, Silverio, Sergio A., Fellows, Rebecca E., Heywood, Lauren E., Burgess, Karen, Storey, Claire, Oza, Munira, Kent-Nye, Flora E. +3 more·2025·Women and Birth
DOI 10.1016/j.wombi.2025.101902
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Abstract

PROBLEM: Perinatal bereavement can severely disrupt women's anticipated role as mothers, affecting their psychological wellbeing and identity as parents. BACKGROUND: Existing research highlights many women report persistent and enduring grief for months or even years post-loss, highlighting the urgent need for interventions to help maintain a healthy parental identity and mitigate long-term mental health impacts. AIM: To explore how memory-making practices, supported by compassionate care, serve to preserve the parental identity of bereaved mothers after perinatal loss. METHODS: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 54 UK-based women who had experienced a perinatal bereavement. Grounded Theory Analysis guided the inductive coding and thematic development. FINDINGS: Five themes emerged: (1) Compassion to Care; (2) Finding Comfort in Guidance; (3) Deriving Hope from Parental Identity; (4) Altruism as Catharsis; and (5) Comforted and Consoled. Together, these themes gave rise to the final theory, 'From Mourning to Memorialising - A Lasting Connection through Remembrance,' demonstrating how memory-making enables bereaved mothers to preserve their sense of parenthood after loss. DISCUSSION: Memory-making activities allow bereaved mothers to acknowledge their baby's existence and uphold their parental identity. When supported by compassionate care and support, these activities help to integrate the baby's memory into daily life, gradually easing acute grief. Over time, they become lasting markers which validate motherhood, foster continuity, and provide solace, ensuring that parenthood endures despite the absence of a living child. CONCLUSIONS: Structured memory-making and compassionate care strategies can enhance parental identity retention, fostering emotional resilience and guiding more effective bereavement care provision.

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  • Most researchers have focused primarily on parents' emotions and grief process rather than on nurses and midwives.

    “Notably, most researchers have focused primarily on parents' emotions and their grief process (Obst et al., 2020; Payne et al., 2025).”

    From Nurses' and midwives' experiences of supporting parents following perinatal bereavement: A qualitative systematic review (2026) · cites this paper as Payne et al., 2025

    The Abstract (p. 1) says this study examines bereaved mothers’ experiences and notes existing research on women’s enduring grief. It does not establish that most researchers focus on parents’ emotions and grief rather than on nurses and midwives. (LLM, conf=0.77)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Grief symptoms following perinatal loss are influenced by cultural and societal factors.

    “Moreover, grief symptoms are also influenced by cultural and societal factors.”

    From Nurses' and midwives' experiences of supporting parents following perinatal bereavement: A qualitative systematic review (2026) · cites this paper as Payne et al., 2025

    The Introduction (p. 2) says inadequate professional support exacerbates psychological reactions to pregnancy loss and psychosocial support helps bereaved mothers cope. The discussion (p. 8) says connection within bereavement communities can alleviate grief. The limitations (p. 8) note that grief rituals may differ across cultures, but the study does not establish that cultural factors influence grief symptoms. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • In many Western settings such as Australia and USA, memory-making practices and rituals are encouraged to support grieving.

    “Whereas in many Western settings, such as Australia and United States of America (USA), memory-making practices and rituals are encouraged to support the grieving process (Payne et al., 2025).”

    From Nurses' and midwives' experiences of supporting parents following perinatal bereavement: A qualitative systematic review (2026) · cites this paper as Payne et al., 2025

    The Conclusion (p. 8) says memory-making activities help bereaved parents process grief, and the discussion (p. 7) describes memorial rituals as part of bereavement care. The paper mentions Australian care guidance (p. 2), but does not establish that such practices are encouraged across many Western settings, specifically including both Australia and the USA; its limitations (p. 8) caution against applying the UK findings to other cultural settings. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Absence of farewell rituals and distancing from family and emotional support networks made the loss even more difficult to process during the pandemic.

    “The absence of farewell rituals and distancing from family and emotional support networks made the loss even more difficult to process (59).”

    From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [59]

    The discussion of memory making (p. 7) describes funerals and memorial practices as ways to navigate grief, and the passage on social support (p. 2) says emotional support helps people process trauma. But the paper does not say that pandemic restrictions prevented farewells or distanced families and support networks, making loss harder to process. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Many memory making activities discussed by parents in this study (spending time with baby, taking/asking for photos, naming baby) are commonly reported in bereavement literature.

    “Many of the memory making activities discussed by parents in this study such as spending time with their baby, taking/asking for photos, and naming their baby, are commonly reported in bereavement literature (10, 25).”

    From Parent hospital experiences following stillbirth (2026) · cites this paper as [10]

    Section 4.1 (p. 7) identifies spending time with the baby and taking photographs as memory-making practices and relates such practices to previous bereavement research. A participant in “Compassion to Care” (p. 6) describes being asked what she had named her baby, but the paper does not establish naming as a commonly reported activity in the bereavement literature. (LLM, conf=0.79)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. [6][6] C.H. Phillips, V.A. Danilack, E.O. Buschur, M.A. Clark, Miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy in the United States: data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), Contraception 101 (6) (2020) 362 -366, https://doi.org/10.1016/j. contraception.2020.02.004. - · DOI
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  4. [38][38] [S.A. Silverio, A man in women ' s studies research: Privileged in more than one sense, in: B.C. Clift, J. Hatchard, J. Gore (Eds.), How do we belong? Researcher positionality within qualitative inquiry, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom, 2018, pp. 39 -48.](http://refhub.elsevier.com/S1871-5192(25)00036-8/sbref34) -
  5. [45][45] B.G. Glaser, Basics of Grounded Theory analysis, Sociology Press, Mill Valley, 1992. -
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  7. [57][57] E. McCloskey, Baby loss, grief, and the quest for community: A mixed methods study investigating stillbirth bereavement support pathways for ethnically diverse bereaved parents. PhD Thesis Canterbury Christ Church University School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, 2022.

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Authors
Payne, E., Silverio, S. A., Fellows, R. E., Heywood, L. E., Burgess, K., Storey, C., Oza, M., Kent-Nye, F. E., Haddad, L., Sampson, A., & Knighting, K.
Affiliations
  • University of Liverpool (GB)
  • Bangor University (GB)
  • King's College London (GB)
  • The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust (GB)
  • Edge Hill University (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Women and Birth
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2025-05
Volume
38
Issue
3
Pages
101902
ISSN
1871-5192 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.wombi.2025.101902
OpenAlex
W4409987636
Cited by
12
References
51
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 3
FWCI
14.25
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Women and Birth (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Edge Hill University Research Information Repository (Edge Hill University) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration South London
  • Stillborn and Neonatal Death Charity
  • King's College London (PF2021_Mar_039)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Global Maternal and Child Health
Keywords
perinatal bereavement, parental identity, memory formation, commemoration, maternal grief, compassionate care, bereavement support, motherhood, perinatal loss
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Bereavement, Empathy, Female, United Kingdom, Grief, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Memory, Mothers, Parents, Pregnancy, Qualitative Research, Grounded Theory

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