Overwhelming and unjust: A qualitative study of fathers’ experiences of grief following neonatal death
Abstract
Limited research has examined the grief experiences of fathers following neonatal death. Using a qualitative research design, ten fathers were interviewed, and thematic analysis resulted in three overarching themes: ' A complicated grief experience: Neonatal death is highly emotional' , ' Grief is multidimensional' and 'Sense of injustice' . Overall, results showed that grief was a multidimensional experience for fathers, with expressions of grief including strong feelings of anger and guilt and the manifestation of grief in physical symptoms. In addition, the findings also indicated a sense of injustice that contributed to the disenfranchisement of grief for fathers. The results of this study contribute to developing a better understanding of the grief that fathers experience following neonatal death, and can inform improvements in healthcare practices after the death of a baby in the neonatal period, including father-specific programs and adequate provision of information.
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Guilt was a theme reflected throughout papers within this review.
“A theme reflected throughout papers within this review was guilt (Azeez et al., 2022;Horstman et al., 2023;Lacroix et al., 2016).”
From Fathers’ experiences of perinatal death following miscarriage, stillbirth, and neonatal death: A meta-ethnography (2026) · cites this paper as Azeez et al., 2022
Cites
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“This study formed part of a more extensive program of research exploring Australian fathers’ grief and support experiences following pregnancy loss or neonatal death (other results published elsewhere; Azeez et al., 2021; Obst et al., 2020).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationThe impact of pregnancy loss on men’s health and wellbeing: a systematic review
Due, C., Chiarolli, S., & Riggs, D. W. (2017) · BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · doi:10.1186/s12884-017-1560-9 · Cited by 140 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Research shows that disenfranchised grief is particularly salient for men experiencing pregnancy loss more generally (Due et al., 2017) and is also likely for those who experience neonatal death.”
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“These differences in mothers’ and fathers’ responses have also been highlighted in pregnancy loss literature (Badenhorst et al., 2006; Vance et al., 2002), emphasizing the need for more father-specific research to inform effective support options and healthcare practices after neonatal death.”
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“Recent studies have acknowledged a gap in understanding regarding men’s grief following pregnancy loss, and researchers have sought to rectify this (e.g., see (Jones et al., 2019; Martinez et al., 2019; Nguyen et al., 2019; Obst et al., 2020, 2021).”
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“…the United Kingdom (UK) or the United States (US) and primarily consists of qualitative studies on the experiences of mothers or parents generally (Clyman et al., 1980; Currie et al., 2019; Redshaw & Henderson, 2018; Waugh et al., 2018), as well as studies that address both neonatal death and…”
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Bradford, B. F., Cronin, R. S., Popoola, T., Bright, N., & Silverio, S. A. (2024) · Women and Birth · doi:10.1016/j.wombi.2024.101622 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
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“I still have guilt that I didn’t do more to try and get them out earlier (Azeez et al., 2022, p. 1449).”
Influential
- Authors
- Azeez, S., Obst, K. L., Due, C., Oxlad, M., & Middleton, P.
- Affiliations
- The University of Adelaide (AU)
- South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Azeez, Shazleen
- Venue
- Death Studies
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2022-02-02
- Volume
- 46
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1443-1454
- ISSN
- 0748-1187 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-7683
- OpenAlex
- W4210570587
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4
- FWCI
- 3.65
- 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
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Infant Development and Preterm Care
- Keywords
- paternal grief, neonatal death, fathers, complicated grief, sense of injustice, disenfranchised grief, anger, guilt
- MeSH terms
- Emotions, Fathers, Female, Grief, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Male, Qualitative Research, Perinatal Death
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