What bereaved parents want health care providers to know when their babies are stillborn: a community-based participatory study
Open accessAbstract
Background: Bereaved parents experience higher rates of depressive and post-traumatic stress symptoms after the stillbirth of a baby than after live-birth. Yet, these effects remain underreported in the literature and, consequently, insufficiently addressed in health provider education and practice. We conducted a participatory based study to explore the experiences of grieving parents during their interaction with health care providers during and after the stillbirth of a baby. Methods: This community-based participatory study utilized four focus groups comprised of twenty-seven bereaved parents (44% fathers). Bereaved parents conceptualized the study, participating at all stages of research, analyses, and drafting. Data were reduced into a main theme and subthemes, then broad-based member checked to ensure fidelity and nuances within themes. Results: The major theme that emerged centered on provider acknowledgement of the baby as an irreplaceable individual. Subthemes reflected 1) acknowledgement of parenthood and grief, 2) recognition of the traumatic nature of stillbirth, and 3) acknowledgement of enduring grief coupled with access to support. It was important that providers realized how grief was experienced within health care and social support systems, concretized by their desire for long-term, specialized support. Conclusions: Both mothers and fathers feel that acknowledgement of their baby as an individual, their parenthood, and their enduring traumatic grief by healthcare providers are key elements required in the process of initiating immediate and ongoing care after the stillbirth of a baby.
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Experiences within the healthcare system following pregnancy loss or neonatal death have been established as fundamental to shaping bereaved parents' grief experience.
“Finally, at the system/policy level, experiences within the healthcare system following pregnancy loss or neonatal death have been established as fundamental to shaping bereaved parents’ grief experience [4, 9, 42].”
From Factors contributing to men’s grief following pregnancy loss and neonatal death: further development of an emerging model in an Australian sample (2021) · cites this paper as [42]
The Background describes healthcare providers’ role around stillbirth as critical, and the Conclusion says provider acknowledgement may affect bereaved parents for years. The study concerns parents whose babies were stillborn; it does not establish the same finding for neonatal death or pregnancy loss more broadly. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredParents appreciated when care was taken to minimize environmental exposures to pregnant women and living babies, and described these environmental exposures as intensifying their traumatic experience when they were not minimized.
“Adapting the environment is likely not feasible in every situation; however, parents appreciated when care was taken to minimize environmental exposures to pregnant women and living babies (19) and described these environmental exposures as “[intensifying] their traumatic experience” when they were not minimized (24, p.5).”
From Parent hospital experiences following stillbirth (2026) · cites this paper as [24]
Parents in other studies have been surprised by postpartum changes like lactation.
“Parents in other studies have been surprised by postpartum changes like lactation (24).”
From Parent hospital experiences following stillbirth (2026) · cites this paper as [24]
Healthcare providers have a significant impact on the hospital experience of parents when their baby is stillborn.
“Given the significant impact healthcare providers have on the hospital experience of parents when their baby is stillborn (19, 24), addressing these gaps is critical to providing comprehensive care.”
From Parent hospital experiences following stillbirth (2026) · cites this paper as [24]
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- Authors
- Farrales, L. L., Cacciatore, J., Jonas-Simpson, C., Dharamsi, S., Ascher, J., & Klein, M. C.
- Affiliations
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Arizona State University (US)
- York University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Cacciatore, Joanne
- Venue
- BMC Psychology
- Published
- 2020-02-17
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 18-18
- ISSN
- 2050-7283 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7027220
- OpenAlex
- W3012919789
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 1.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- cIRcle (University of British Columbia) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Open Collections
- Funders
- British Columbia College of Family Physicians (N/A)
- 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, grief, healthcare provider-patient communication, traumatic grief, post-traumatic stress, postpartum depression, social support, long-term support
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Bereavement, Fathers, Female, Health Personnel, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Mothers, Parents, Pregnancy, Professional-Patient Relations, Stillbirth
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