Events surrounding stillbirth and their effect on symptoms of depression among mothers
Abstract
Women who experience stillbirth often report anxiety, depression, and loss of self-esteem afterward, but aspects of the pregnancy, such as length of pregnancy, seeing the baby after delivery, and seeing the baby as long as they wished might be associated with symptoms of depression. So, we sent an online, detailed questionnaire about their stillbirth experience and their current depression to two Facebook child loss support groups. A total of 66 women answered anonymously through SurveyMonkey. The women delivered their babies at about seven months gestation, on average 2.5 years earlier. The women reported moderately severe depression symptoms, which was related to being single, length of time between diagnosis and delivery, seeing the baby immediately after delivery and as long as they wished and secondary infertility after the stillbirth. Although this sample may have been unique, these women report long-term negative ramifications of their experience. An implication is that the specific details surrounding their stillbirth experience in the hospital can have long-term implications for depression.
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Roberts, L. R., Nick, J. M., Sarpy, N. L., Peters, J., & Tamares, S. (2024) · JBI Evidence Synthesis · doi:10.11124/jbies-23-00149 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
- Authors
- Arocha, P.-R., & Range, L. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Holy Cross (US)
- Corresponding author
- Arocha, Patti-Rae
- Venue
- Death Studies
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2019-10-22
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 573-577
- ISSN
- 0748-1187 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-7683
- OpenAlex
- W2981852819
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 0.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Death Studies (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Global Maternal and Child Health
- Keywords
- stillbirth, maternal depression, perinatal loss, child loss, Facebook support groups, gestation length, secondary infertility, single mothers, bereavement
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety, Child, Depression, Female, Humans, Mothers, Pregnancy, Surveys and Questionnaires, Stillbirth
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