Meaning Reconstruction among Women following Stillbirth: A Loss Fraught with Ambiguity and Doubt
Open accessAbstract
Stillbirth (SB), death of a fetus in late stages of pregnancy or during birth, usually leads to extended and intense grief among women. However, their grief is often disenfranchised and they are denied the social right to mourn their loss. Constructivist theories recently assuming a central place in bereavement studies inform this article, which aims to identify the meaning that women who experience SB ascribe to their loss in general and to the lost figure. This tack may offer the opportunity to examine the consequences of the discrepancy between personal and environmental constructions of this loss on its personal construction and to learn about the essence of the loss. Within the domain of qualitative research, the current article draws on phenomenology and the research method that has emerged from this approach. Specifically, the article focuses on in-depth interviews with 10 women who experienced SB. Its findings suggest that for these women, the lost figure and the loss in general engender ambiguity both internally-that is, within the psyche of women themselves-and externally, within the women's social environment. Thus, ambiguity, uncertainty, and doubt infused women's experience of SB. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
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The combination of silence and invalidation can lead to deep frustration and questioning the meaning of life.
“This combination of silence and invalidation can lead to deep frustration and even to questioning the meaning of life itself (30, 37–39).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [39]
Identity reformulation after perinatal bereavement does not occur linearly and is shaped by internal factors (emotional conflicts, ambivalence) and external factors (support received, social recognition of motherhood).
“This identity reformulation does not occur linearly and is shaped by internal factors, such as emotional conflicts and ambivalence, and external ones, such as the support received and the social recognition of motherhood (30, 39).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [39]
Experience of motherhood after perinatal bereavement is marked by a continuous process of emotional and identity reconstruction that does not end with the baby's death.
“The studies in this theme revealed that the experience of motherhood after a perinatal bereavement is marked by a continuous process of emotional and identity reconstruction that does not end with the baby’s death (30–32, 36, 38–40, 42, 43, 45).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [39]
Some women saw themselves as 'abstract' or 'incomplete' mothers for not having a living child in their arms.
“Some saw themselves as “abstract” or “incomplete” mothers for not having a living child in their arms (31, 32, 39).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [39]
Women began to question whether they could be considered mothers as part of their identity.
“In this sense, women began to question whether they could be considered mothers as part of their identity (30, 39).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [39]
This process requires women to make a continuous emotional effort to bond with the new child without erasing or denying the memory of the one who was lost.
“This process requires women to make a continuous emotional effort to bond with the new child without erasing or denying the memory of the one who was lost (37, 39, 42).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [39]
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- Authors
- Golan, A., & Leichtentritt, R. D.
- Affiliations
- Tel Aviv University (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Golan, Aiya
- Venue
- Health & Social Work
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2016-02-29
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 147-154
- ISSN
- 0360-7283 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-6854
- PMC
- PMC4985877
- OpenAlex
- W2329254088
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 8
- FWCI
- 3.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Health & Social Work (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Global Maternal and Child Health
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Keywords
- stillbirth, grief, disenfranchised grief, meaning reconstruction, ambiguity, uncertainty, doubt
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Bereavement, Female, Grief, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Pregnancy, Women, Qualitative Research, Stillbirth
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