Pregnancy loss and neonatal death are recognized as distressing experiences for parents and other family members. However, no research has specifically addressed the experiences of grandfathers. This study aimed to understand grandfathers’ grief experiences, and to identify supports they provide, receive, and desire following the loss of a grandchild in pregnancy or the neonatal period. Semi-structured interviews with 10 Australian grandfathers were analyzed, applying principles of thematic analysis. Three themes related to grief and three themes related to support were identified. Findings indicated that grandfathers expressed grief in a range of ways, and emotional expressiveness did not reflect the extent of their grief. Grandfathers typically provided extensive support to their child and family; however, few supports were available to help grandfathers. Recognition and validation of grandfathers’ grief, early access to information, and guidance to a variety of supports including written materials, peer and professional support, is required.
AbboudL.LiamputtongP. (2005). When pregnancy fails: Coping strategies, support networks and experiences with health care of ethnic women and their partners. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 23(1), 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646830512331330974
BartoneP.BartoneJ.GilenoZ.ViolanteJ. (2018). Exploration into best practices in peer support for bereaved survivors. Death Studies, 42(9), 555–568. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2017.1414087
6.
BatesJ.TaylorA. (2012). Grandfather involvement and aging men’s mental health. American Journal of Men’s Health, 6(3), 229–239. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988311430249
7.
BonnetteS.BroomA. (2011). On grief, fathering and the male role in men’s accounts of stillbirth. Journal of Sociology, 48(3), 248–265. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783311413485
8.
BowenM. (1978). Family therapy in clinical practice. Jason Aronson, Inc.
9.
BraunV.ClarkeV. (2013). Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. SAGE.
10.
BraunV.ClarkeV. (2021). To saturate or not to saturate? Questioning data saturation as a useful concept for thematic analysis and sample-size rationales. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 13(2), 201–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1704846
BrierN. (2008). Grief following miscarriage: A comprehensive review of the literature. Journal of Women’s Health, 17(3), 451–464. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2007.0505
DokaK. (2002). Disenfranchised Grief. In DokaKenneth J. (Ed.), Living with Grief: Loss in Later Life (pp. 159–168). Washington, D.C.: The Hospice Foundation of America.
18.
DokaK.MartinT. (1998). Masculine responses to loss: Clinical implications. Journal of Family Studies, 4(2), 143–158. https://doi.org/10.5172/jfs.4.2.143
Englar-CarlsonM. (2006). Masculine norms and the therapy process. In Englar-CarlsonM.StevensM. A. (Eds.), In the room with men: A casebook of therapeutic change (pp. 13–47). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/11411-002
21.
FlenadyV.KingJ.CharlesA.GardenerG.EllwoodD.DayK.McCowanL.KentA.TudehopeD.RichardsonR.ConwayL.ChanA.HaslamR.KhongY. (2009). PSANZ clinical practice guideline for perinatal mortality (PM Group, Trans.). Perinatal Society of Australia & New Zealand.
22.
FlenadyV.OatsJ.GardenerG.MassonV.McCowanL.KentA.TudehopeD.MiddletonP.DonnolleyN.BoyleF.HoreyD.EllwoodD.GordonA.SinclairL.HumphreyM.ZuccolloJ.DahlstromJ.MahomedK.HenryS.KhongY. (2020). PSANZ care around the time of stillbirth and neonatal death guidelines group. Clinical practice guideline for care around stillbirth and neonatal death (Version 3.4). NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Stillbirth.
23.
GaminoL.SewellK.Prosser-DoddsL.HoganN. (2018). Intuitive and instrumental grief: A study of the reliability and validity of the grief pattern inventory. Omega, 81(4), 532–550. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222818786403
24.
GilliesJ.NeimeyerR. (2006). Loss, grief, and the search for significance: Toward a model of meaning reconstruction in bereavement. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 19(1), 31–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/10720530500311182
25.
Gilrane-McGarryU.O’GradyT. (2012). Forgotten grievers: An exploration of the grief 494 experiences of bereaved grandparents (part 2). International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 18(4), 179–187. https://doi.org/10.12968/ijpn.2012.18.4.179
26.
GoldenT.MillerJ. (1998). When a man faces grief: 12 practical ideas to help you heal from loss. Willowgreen Publishing.
27.
GuestG.NameyE.ChenM. (2020). A simple method to assess and report thematic saturation in qualitative research. PLOS ONE, 15(5), Article e0232076. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232076
28.
HayslipB.Jr.FruhaufC. A. (Eds.). (2019). Grandparenting: Influences on the dynamics of family relationships. Springer Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1891/9780826149855
29.
HoogheA.NeimeyerR.RoberP. (2012). Cycling around an emotional core of sadness: Emotion regulation in a couple after the loss of a child. Qualitative Health Research, 22(9), 1220–1231. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732312449209
30.
JonesK.RobbM.MurphyS.DaviesA. (2019). New understandings of fathers’ experiences of grief and loss following stillbirth and neonatal death: A scoping review. Midwifery, 79, Article 102531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2019.102531
31.
KingodN.ClealB.WahlbergA.HustedG. R. (2017). Online peer-to-peer communities in the daily lives of people with chronic illness: A qualitative systematic review. Qualitative Health Research, 27(1), 89–99. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732316680203
32.
LocktonJ.DueC.OxladM. (2020). Love, listen and learn: Grandmothers’ experiences of grief following their child’s pregnancy loss. Women And Birth: Journal of the Australian College of Midwives, 33(4), 401–407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2019.07.007
33.
LocktonJ.OxladM.DueC. (2020). Knowing how to help: Grandmothers’ experiences of providing and receiving support following their child’s pregnancy loss. Women and Birth: Journal of the Australian College of Midwives. In press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2020.10.006
34.
MahalikJ.LockeB.LudlowL.DiemerM.ScottR.GottfriedM.FreitasG. (2003). Development of the conformity to masculine norms inventory. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 4(1), 3–25. https://doi.org/10.1037//1524-9220.4.1.3
35.
MastersonM.ShulerT.KissaneD. (2013). Family focused grief therapy: A versatile intervention in palliative care and bereavement. Bereavement Care, 32(3), 117–123. https://doi.org/10.1080/02682621.2013.854544
36.
MilmanE.NeimeyerR.FitzpatrickM.MacKinnonC.MuisK.CohenS. (2019). Prolonged grief and the disruption of meaning: Establishing a mediation model. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 66(6), 714–725. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000370
MurphyS.CacciatoreJ. (2017). The psychological, social, and economic impact of stillbirth on families. Seminars in Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, 22(3), 129–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.siny.2017.02.002
NehariM.GreblerD.TorenA. (2007). A voice unheard: Grandparents’ grief over children who died of cancer. Mortality, 12(1), 66–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/13576270601088475
41.
Norrmann-VigilI. (2015). Conceptualizing and articulating pregnancy loss through embodiment in peer interaction. Language & Communication, 45, 70–72.
42.
ObstK. L.DueC. (2019). Australian men’s experiences of support following pregnancy loss: A qualitative study. Midwifery, 70, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2018.11.013
43.
ObstK. L.DueC.OxladM.MiddletonP. (2020). Men’s grief following pregnancy loss and neonatal loss: A systematic review and emerging theoretical model. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth, 20(1), Article 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-019-2677-9
44.
ObstK. L.OxladM.DueC.MiddletonP. (2021). Factors contributing to men’s grief following pregnancy loss and neonatal death: Further development of an emerging model in an Australian sample. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 21(1), Article 29. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-020-03514-6
45.
OliffeJ.RasmussenB.BottorffJ.KellyM.GaldasP.PhinneyA.OgrodniczukJ. (2013). Masculinities, work, and retirement among older men who experience depression. Qualitative Health Research, 23(12), 1626–1637. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732313509408
46.
O’NeilJ. M. (2015). Men’s gender role conflict: Psychological costs, consequences, and an agenda for change. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14501-000
PowerS.O’DonoghueK.MeaneyS. (2021). Experiences of volunteers supporting parents following a fatal fetal anomaly diagnosis. Qualitative Health Research, 31(5), 835–846. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732320987834
RycroftF.PerleszA. (2001). Speaking the unspeakable: Reclaiming grief and loss in family life. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 22(2), 57–65. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1467-8438.2001.tb01310.x
52.
SegevE.LevingerM.HochmanY. (2018). “Shared destiny”: The dynamics of relationships in families of patients with brain injury. Qualitative Health Research, 28(1), 112–125. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732317737310
53.
StevensonM.AchilleM.LibenS.ProulxM.-C.HumbertN.PettiA.MacdonaldM. E.CohenS. R. (2017). Understanding how bereaved parents cope with their grief to inform the services provided to them. Qualitative Health Research, 27(5), 649–664. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732315622189
54.
StroebeM.SchutH. (1999). The dual process model of coping with bereavement: Rationale and description. Death Studies, 23(3), 197–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/074811899201046
55.
StroebeM.SchutH. (2001). Meaning making in the dual process model of coping with bereavement. In NeimeyerR. A. (Ed.), Meaning reconstruction & the experience of loss (pp. 55–73). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10397003
56.
StroebeM.SchutH. (2010). The dual process model of coping with bereavement: A decade on. OMEGA–Journal of Death and Dying, 61(4), 273–289. https://doi.org/10.2190/OM.61.4.b
ThompsonN.AllanJ.CarverhillP.CoxG.DaviesB.DokaK.GranekL.HarrisD.HoA.KlassD.SmallN.WittkowskiJ. (2016). The case for a sociology of dying, death, and bereavement. Death Studies, 40(3), 172–181. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2015.1109377
59.
TourjemanK.DoronI.CohenM. (2015). Losing a grandchild: The mourning experience of grandparents in Israel. Death Studies, 39(8), 491–499. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2014.970298
60.
TracyS. J. (2010). Qualitative quality: Eight “big-tent” criteria for excellent qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(10), 837–851. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800410383121
WhiteD.WalkerA.RichardsL. (2008). Intergenerational family support following infant death. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 67(3), 187–208. https://doi.org/10.2190/AG.67.3.a
63.
WilliamsH.ToppingA.CoomarasamyA.JonesL. (2020). Men and miscarriage: A systematic review and thematic synthesis. Qualitative Health Research, 30(1), 133–145. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732319870270
64.
WirickD. M.Teufel-PridaL. A. (2019). Closed systems in family systems theory. In LebowJ.ChambersA.BreunlinD. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of couple and family therapy. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_249-1
65.
WongY. J.RochlenA. B. (2005). Demystifying men’s emotional behavior: New directions and implications for counseling and research. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 6, 62–72. https://doi.org/10.1037/1524-9220.6.1.62
66.
WongY. J.HoM.WangS.MillerI. (2017). Meta-analyses of the relationship between conformity to masculine norms and mental health-related outcomes. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64, 80–93. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000176
67.
YoungblutJ.BrootenD.BlaisK.YooC. (2015). Health and functioning in grandparents after a young grandchild’s death. Journal of Community Health, 40(5), 956–966. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-015-0018-0
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
