Reading the Research: Module 2

"The stillbirth experience of parents and physicians"

The Student Learning Outcomes for this course include (1) exposure to empirical findings in the field of human development and (2) application of research findings as they relate to every day life.  Each module I will provide a current example (most often from a peer-reviewed journal article) of research connected to a topic explored in that module. 

 

In the United States, an estimated 70 stillbirths occur each day, on average 25,000 each year. Research into the prevalence and causes of stillbirth is ongoing, but meanwhile, many parents suffer this devastating loss, largely in silence, due to persistent stigma and taboo; and many health providers report feeling ill equipped to support grieving parents. Interventions to address bereavement after neonatal death are increasingly common in U.S. hospitals, and there is growing data on the nature of parent bereavement after a stillbirth. However, further research is needed to evaluate supportive interventions and to investigate the parent-clinician encounter during hospitalization following a stillbirth. Qualitative inquiry offers opportunities to better understand the lived experience of parents against the backdrop of clinicians’ beliefs, intentions, and well-meaning efforts to support grieving parents.

You can read this article, Silent loss and the clinical encounter: Parents’ and physicians’ experiences of stillbirth–a qualitative analysis

at the following link:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3533522 Links to an external site.