What's in a Name? death before birth
Abstract
The medical, legal, and lay communities utilize a range of words to describe a pregnancy that does not result in live birth. These terms, including abortion, miscarriage, and stillbirth, are more than just words: they carry with them a range of meanings and social consequences. This paper explores the complex implications embodied in the language used to designate fetal death and describes how they simultaneously, and paradoxically, establish conflicting subject positions for mother and fetus. It also examines the statutory regulations that affirm the problematic terms in a manner that may leave grieving families without ritual outlets for the expression of their loss. This paper draws on specific examples from Aotearoa New Zealand, while recognizing similarities across Western cultures.
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Historically, spontaneous pregnancy loss was referred to clinically as an 'abortion' with negative connotations for women experiencing the loss of a wanted pregnancy.
“Historically, spontaneous pregnancy loss was referred to clinically as an ‘abortion’ with negative connotations for women experiencing the loss of a wanted pregnancy.5”
From Parents’ experiences of care following the loss of a baby at the margins between miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death: a UK qualitative study (2020) · cites this paper as [5]
The impact and importance of terminology following pregnancy loss is not new.
“The impact and importance of terminology following pregnancy loss is not new.”
From Parents’ experiences of care following the loss of a baby at the margins between miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death: a UK qualitative study (2020) · cites this paper as [5]
Despite limitations, the dominant themes that emerged from this analysis, including the depth of the parents' grief surrounding the loss and the lack of social support or empathy during the grieving process, echo themes found in emerging U.S. and international data on the experience of stillbirth and confirm their broader validity.
“Despite these limitations, the dominant themes that emerged from this analysis, including the depth of the parents’ grief surrounding the loss, and the lack of social support or empathy during the grieving process, echo themes found in the emerging U.S. and international data on the experience of stillbirth and confirm their broader validity [27,29,31,32].”
From Silent loss and the clinical encounter: Parents’ and physicians’ experiences of stillbirth–a qualitative analysis (2012) · cites this paper as [32]
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References 9 · Cited by 35
- Authors
- Jutel, A.
- Affiliations
- Otago Polytechnic (NZ)
- Corresponding author
- Jutel, Annemarie
- ORCID
- Jutel, Annemarie
- Venue
- Perspectives in Biology and Medicine
- Publisher
- Project MUSE
- Published
- 2006-06
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 425-434
- ISSN
- 0031-5982 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-8795
- OpenAlex
- W1965213165
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 13.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Perspectives in biology and medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) (submittedVersion)
- DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Global Maternal and Child Health
- Keywords
- fetal death, abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth, terminology, grief, ritual, statutory regulation, New Zealand
- MeSH terms
- Abortion, Spontaneous, Abortion, Induced, Attitude, Female, Fetal Death, Humans, New Zealand, Terminology as Topic, Pregnancy, Personhood
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