Parents’ experiences of care and support after stillbirth in rural and urban maternity facilities: a qualitative study in Kenya and Uganda
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To explore parents' lived experiences of care and support following stillbirth in urban and rural health facilities. DESIGN: Qualitative, interpretative, guided by Heideggerian phenomenology. SETTING: Nairobi and Western Kenya, Kampala and Central Uganda. SAMPLE: A purposive sample of 75 women and 59 men who had experienced the stillbirth of their baby (≤1 year previously) and received care in the included facilities. METHODS: In-depth interviews, analysed using Van Manen's reflexive approach. RESULTS: Three main themes were identified; parents described devastating impacts and profound responses to their baby's death. Interactions with health workers were a key influence, but poor communication, environmental barriers and unsupportive facility policies/practices meant that needs were often unmet. After discharge, women and partners sought support in communities to help them cope with the death of their baby but frequently encountered stigma engendering feelings of blame and increasing isolation. CONCLUSIONS: Parents in Kenya and Uganda were not always treated with compassion and lacked the care or support they needed after the death of their baby. Health workers in Kenya and Uganda, in common with other settings, have a key role in supporting bereaved parents. There is an urgent need for context and culturally appropriate interventions to improve communication, health system and community support for African parents. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Health-system response and community support for parents after stillbirth in Kenya and Uganda are inadequate.
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The intensified suffering of women placed in wards alongside mothers and live newborns was highlighted, in settings marked by a lack of privacy and sensitivity.
“Similarly, the intensified suffering of women placed in wards alongside mothers and live newborns was highlighted, in settings marked by a lack of privacy and sensitivity (48).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [48]
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- Authors
- Mills, T., Ayebare, E., Mukhwana, R., Mweteise, J., Nabisere, A., Nendela, A., Ndungu, P., Okello, M., Omoni, G., Wakasiaka, S., Wood, R., & Lavender, T.
- Affiliations
- Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work School of Health Sciences Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health The University of Manchester Manchester UK
- Makerere University (UG)
- University of Nairobi (KE)
- NIHR Global Health Group Community Involvement and Engagement (CEI) Group Uganda Bweyogerere, Wakiso Uganda
- University of Manchester (GB)
- Venue
- BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-08-16
- Volume
- 128
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 101-109
- ISSN
- 0306-5456 (ISSN-L)
- 1470-0328
- 1471-0528
- OpenAlex
- W3041988344
- Cited by
- 44
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 6
- FWCI
- 2.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LSTM Online Archive (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) (acceptedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Greater South Information System
- Funders
- Wellbeing of Women (IFA 200)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Global Maternal and Child Health
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Maternal and Neonatal Healthcare
- Keywords
- stillbirth, bereaved parents, parental grief, health worker communication, stigma, community support, Kenya, Uganda
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Female, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Kenya, Middle Aged, Parents, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care, Rural Population, Social Support, Uganda, Urban Population, Stillbirth, Young Adult
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