Conversations,Coping,& Connectedness: A Qualitative Study of Women Who Have Experienced Involuntary Pregnancy Loss

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe processes and strategies used by women to cope after pregnancy loss. Twenty women with a history of involuntary pregnancy loss were interviewed. All of the women were in the last month of a subsequent pregnancy, married or partnered, and most were EuroAmerican or Asian American and had completed college. Taped interviews, fieldnotes, and analytical notes were transcribed then subsequently coded and developed in individual or team sessions. Construction and confirmation of the categories and related themes derived from the data was a collaborative process. Three themes were revealed that described the coping behaviors used by the women: being myself, connecting with others, and avoiding and pretending. The core concept of connectedness and coping after involuntary pregnancy loss was further validated in this study. The purpose of this study was to describe processes and strategies that facilitate coping for 20 women, pregnant subsequent to an involuntary pregnancy loss (IPL). Involuntary pregnancy loss (IPL) refers to miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, fetal deaths, and stillbirths (Van & Meleis, 2003). This current study was designed to replicate two prior qualitative studies, with African-American women, by the author (Patterson, 2000; Van, 2001). Based on the author's previous work, a theoretical framework entitled “A Model of Living with Grief after Pregnancy Loss” was constructed (Patterson, 2000). For the current study, a more diverse sample was used to potentially expand the applicability of the Model of Living with Grief after Pregnancy Loss to women who are of races other than African American.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abboud

Liamputtong

(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.

Bennett

S. M.

Litz

B. T.

Maguen

Ehrenreich

J. T.

(2008). An exploratory study of the psychological impact and clinical care of perinatal loss. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 13, 485–510.

Bowles

S. V.

Bernard

R. S.

Epperly

Woodward

Ginzburg

Folen

(2006). Traumatic stress disorders following first-trimester spontaneous abortions. Journal of Family Practice, 55 (11), 969–973.

Cacciatore

(2007). Effects of support groups on post traumatic stress responses in women experiencing stillbirth. Omega, 55 (1), 71–90.

Cacciatore

(2010). The unique experiences of women and their families after the death of a baby. Social Work in Health Care, 49, 134–148.

Carter

Misri

Tomfohr

(2007). Psychologic aspects of early pregnancy loss. Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, 50 (1), 154–165.

Cowchock

F. S.

Lasker

J. N.

Toedter

L. J.

Skumanich

S. A.

Koenig

H. G.

(2009). Religious beliefs affect grieving after pregnancy loss. Journal of Religious Health, 49 (4), 485–497.

Forray

Mayes

L. C.

Magriples

Epperson

(2009). Prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder in pregnant women with prior pregnancy complications. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, 22 (6), 522–527.

Gerber-Epstein

Leichtentritt

R. D.

Benyamini

(2009). The experience of miscarriage in first pregnancy: The women's voices. Death Studies, 33, 1–29.

10.

Hagerty

B. M.

Lynch-Sauer

Patusky

K. L.

Bouwsema

(1993). An emerging theory of human relatedness. Image, 25 (4), 291–296.

11.

Horowitz

M. J.

(1990). A model of mourning: Change in schemas of self and other. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 38, 297–324.

12.

McCreight

(2008). Perinatal loss: A qualitative study in Northern Ireland. Omega, 57 (1), 1–19.

13.

Parker

B. S.

Dunn

K. S.

(2011). The continued lived experience of the unexpected death of a child. Omega, 63 (3), 221–233.

14.

Parkes

C. M.

(1975). Determinants of outcome following bereavement. Omega, 6 (4), 303–323.

15.

Patterson

(2000). Living with grief after pregnancy loss: Perspectives of African American women. Doctoral dissertation, University of California, San Francisco, 2000. Digital Dissertations, 61 (5), 2473.

16.

Serrano

Lima

M. L.

(2006). Recurrent miscarriage: Psychological and relational consequences for couples. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 79, 585–594.

17.

Skinner

E. A.

Edge

Altman

Sherwood

(2003). Searching for the structure of coping: A review and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping. Psychological Bulletin, 129 (2), 216–269.

18.

Sudha

Mutran

E. J.

Williams

I. C.

Suchindran

(2006). Childbearing history and self-reported well-being in later life: Contrasting older African American and White women. Research on Aging, 28 (5), 599–621.

19.

Swanson

K. M.

(1999). Effects of caring, measurement, and time on miscarriage impact and women's well-being. Nursing Research, 48, 288–298.

20.

Van

(2001). Breaking the silence of African-American women: Healing after pregnancy loss. Health Care for Women International, 22 (3), 229–243.

21.

Van

Meleis

A. I.

(2003). Coping with grief after involuntary pregnancy loss: Perspectives of African American women. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, 32, 32–39.

22.

van Pampus

M. G.

Wolf

Weijmar

Schultz W. C.

Neeleman

Aarnoudse

J. G.

(2004). Posttraumatic stress disorder following preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 25(3–4), 183–187.