Normal complications and abnormal assumptions after perinatal death
Abstract
There are several ways, clinically, to approach grief after perinatal death, including from a humanistic or a medicalized perspective. The death of a baby is complicated. The loss is an embodied one that incites deep psychological wounds and can be isolating for many parents. Parents process their grief experiences within a sometimes oppressive social context that either sees their expressions of loss as a normal response to an abnormal tragedy or as pathology. Several diagnostic categories have been proposed relative to the traumatic grief experiences of grieving parents that potentially affect them. We explore this nomenclature and, through the lens of a Social-Cognitive Processing Model, examine social support, attitudes, context, and oppressive interpersonal and social structures that affect parents. Clinical implications are discussed.
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Perinatal loss causes intense, traumatic grief.
“Perinatal loss causes intense, traumatic grief.1”
From Bereavement care guidelines used in health care facilities immediately following perinatal loss: a scoping review (2024) · cites this paper as [1]
Complicated grief is associated with health problems such as depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, drug use, increased use of health resources, increased mortality within the first year, and suicide.
“Complicated grief is associated with health problems such as depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, drug use, increased use of health resources, increased mortality within the first year, and suicide.”
From Mindfulness y duelo: programa MADED, mindfulness para la aceptación del dolor, las emociones y el duelo (2020) · cites this paper as [8]
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- Authors
- Cacciatore, J., & Thieleman, K.
- Affiliations
- Arizona State University (US)
- Venue
- MCN The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing
- Published
- 2019-01
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 6-12
- ISSN
- 0361-929X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2900788737
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 1.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- MCN The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing (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 › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Keywords
- perinatal death, grief, bereaved parents, traumatic grief, social support, social stigma, medicalization of grief, humanistic approach
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Attitude to Death, Female, Grief, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Male, Parents, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Perinatal Death
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