Social support in perinatal grief and mothers’ Continuing bonds: A qualitative study with italian mourners
Open accessAbstract
The grieving process after perinatal loss has unique properties. This qualitative study examines one aspect of the grieving process: continuing bonds experienced by the mothers. We offer an interpretative phenomenological analysis of interviews with 15 Italian mothers. Three main relevant themes emerged: “continuing bonds between externalized and internalized presence,” “a difficult guilt to manage,” and “relationships are crucial support systems.” The first one illustrates the ongoing connections to the deceased on the part of mothers and siblings, the second one explores a fixation on finding the cause of the death and related feelings of guilt, while the third one describes the mothers’ process of elaboration of the event, especially with the support of the husband and the community. The findings highlight unique qualities of continuing bonds after perinatal loss and factors that might influence mother’s griefwork, while also suggesting that psychodrama and art therapy could be useful in the management of this kind of loss.
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Care failures, insensitive communication, lack of emotional support, and inadequate postpartum follow-up exacerbated women's suffering.
“On one hand, care failures, insensitive communication, lack of emotional support, and inadequate postpartum follow-up exacerbated women’s suffering”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
The Abstract says that healthcare professionals’ failure to inform parents in time may harm grieving, and that inadequate training can expose bereaved parents to distress. The “Relationships Are Crucial Support Systems” section also links absent social support to unbearable suffering. Our copy does not establish inadequate postpartum follow-up as a source of suffering, and its discussion of insensitive communication is less specific than the claim. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSensitive practices such as active listening, psychological support, and professional empathy facilitated grief processing and a sense of being cared for.
“sensitive practices such as active listening, psychological support, and professional empathy facilitated grief processing and a sense of being cared for”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
In “Relationships Are Crucial Support Systems” (page unavailable), mothers describe attentive hospital staff and helpful psychotherapy; the Discussion also links opportunities to talk and empathetic social support with grief resolution. The copy does not specifically identify active listening or professional empathy as practices that produced a sense of being cared for. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSome women's husbands avoided conversations about the loss even though women felt the need to talk, leading to frustration and isolation.
“Some women stated their husbands avoided conversations about the loss, even though they felt the need to talk about it, which led to frustration and feelings of isolation (29).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
In “Relationships Are Crucial Support Systems” (page unavailable), Giada says she repeatedly tried to talk to her husband and needed to express her pain; Mary says talking was harder for her husband, though they did talk. The Conclusion (page unavailable) links lack of support to isolation. The paper does not state that husbands avoided conversations or that this led to frustration. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredEmotions such as guilt, powerlessness, deep sadness, and effort to maintain emotional balance are mediated by the quality or absence of connections with partners, family, healthcare professionals, and support networks.
“Emotions such as guilt, powerlessness, deep sadness, and the effort to maintain emotional balance are mediated by the quality or absence of connections with partners, family members, healthcare professionals, and support networks (29, 32–34, 36, 40, 45).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
The Discussion (page unavailable) says that support from partners and empathetic social networks helped mothers overcome sorrow and resolve guilt. “Relationships Are Crucial Support Systems” (page unavailable) also describes support from family and healthcare professionals, and greater suffering when support was absent. The paper does not clearly link powerlessness or the effort to maintain emotional balance to those relationships. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredWomen expressed emotions more frequently and verbally, while men tended to remain silent, internalize suffering, or prioritize emotional support for partners.
“Whilst some women expressed their emotions more frequently and verbally, men tended to remain silent, internalize their suffering, or prioritize the role of emotional support for their partners (29, 33).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
In “Relationships Are Crucial Support Systems” (page unavailable), Mary says she talks about the loss more than her husband, who finds it harder to discuss, and describes him as her main support. The paper does not establish that men generally remain silent or internalize their suffering; its accounts also include couples who talked and shared their sorrow. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Absence of support contributed to feelings of loneliness, deep sadness, persistent suffering, chronicity of pain, and maladaptive coping strategies.
“In contrast, the absence of such support contributed to feelings of loneliness, deep sadness, and persistent suffering, favoring the chronicity of pain and the development of maladaptive coping strategies (29).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
In “Relationships Are Crucial Support Systems” (page unavailable), the paper says absent support made suffering unbearable and links lack of support, together with unresolved guilt, to prolonged grief. The Discussion (page unavailable) also links inadequate support to isolation and describes some continuing bonds as unhealthy. It does not establish that lack of support led to the development of maladaptive coping strategies as the citing sentence claims. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn certain cases, the pain of grief catalyzed greater emotional closeness between mother and daughter or between partners, creating spaces for mutual care and sensitive listening.
“In certain cases, the pain of grief served as a catalyst for greater emotional closeness between mother and daughter, or between partners, creating spaces for mutual care and sensitive listening (29, 31).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
In “Relationships Are Crucial Support Systems” (page unavailable), Paola says that facing the loss with her partner “brought us closer,” and Carol describes sharing sorrow with her husband through dialogue. The paper supports the claim about partners, but the passages do not describe grief bringing a mother and daughter closer or creating sensitive listening between them. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA lack of recognition and empathy can intensify suffering in perinatal grief.
“They also address the importance of social support, emphasizing how a lack of recognition and empathy can intensify suffering (29–31, 33, 34, 37, 38, 42, 45, 46).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
Psychotherapy groups organized by hospitals were important sources of emotional support.
“psychotherapy groups organized by hospitals were identified as important sources of emotional support”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
Social stigma labels the woman as 'the mother of the baby who died', preventing her from exercising her natural role and deepening her isolation.
“Social stigma labels the woman as “the mother of the baby who died”, preventing her from exercising her natural role and deepening her isolation (29, 46).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
Women after perinatal bereavement face intense internal emotional struggles marked by pain, anger, and self-blame.
“Women faced intense internal emotional struggles, marked by pain, anger, and self-blame (29, 32–34, 36, 40, 45), in a context where perinatal bereavement is often silenced and socially neglected (30, 32, 37, 38, 40).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
Suffering is intensified in social contexts that delegitimize gestational loss, especially when family, friends, and healthcare professionals fail to acknowledge the woman's pain.
“Suffering is intensified in social contexts that delegitimize gestational loss, especially when family, friends, and healthcare professionals fail to acknowledge the woman’s pain (29, 30, 32, 37, 38, 40).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
Many women reported their partner was their main source of emotional support, highlighting the importance of shared suffering and open dialogue during grieving.
“Many women reported that their partner was their main source of emotional support, highlighting the importance of shared suffering and open dialogue during the grieving process (29).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
Mothers who received consistent emotional support described healthier and more adaptive grieving processes.
“Mothers who received consistent emotional support described healthier and more adaptive grieving processes (29, 31, 35).”
From Experiences and long-term repercussions of perinatal grief in women after perinatal bereavement: a meta-ethnography (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
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References 59 · Cited by 38
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- Authors
- Testoni, I., Bregoli, J., Pompele, S., & Maccarini, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Padua (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Testoni, Ines
- Venue
- Affilia
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2020-02-20
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 485-502
- ISSN
- 0886-1099 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-3020
- OpenAlex
- W3008644017
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 1.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- Affilia (publishedVersion)
- Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- 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 loss, perinatal grief, continuing bonds, social support, guilt, bereavement, motherhood, psychodrama, art therapy, Italian mothers
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