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Navigating care after a baby dies: a systematic review of parent experiences with health providers

Journal of Perinatology volume 27, pages 230–237 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Introduction:

Health care providers are on the front lines of care when a baby dies, but there is no consensus about which behaviors are most helpful or harmful for families.

Materials and Methods:

This systematic review of more than 1100 English-language articles from 1966 to 2006 addressed fetal and early infant loss and extracted information about interactions with health providers.

Results:

Sixty-one studies, covering over 6000 parents, met criteria. Nurses were generally viewed as more emotionally supportive than physicians. Parents valued emotional support, attention to mother and baby and grief education. Avoidance, insensitivity and poor staff communication were the most distressing behaviors encountered.

Discussion:

Interactions with health providers has profound effects on parents with perinatal losses. Grieving parents perceive many behaviors to be thoughtless or insensitive. Physicians and nurses may benefit from increased training in bereavement support.

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Acknowledgements

I express appreciation to Dr Sanjay Saint for recommendations on the systematic review design and Drs Rodney Hayward, Vanessa Dalton and Thomas Schwenk for their thoughtful review of this paper. This work was supported through the Clinical Scholars Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. RWJ had no direct role in data collection, analysis, or preparation of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    K J Gold

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    K J Gold

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Correspondence to K J Gold.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Journal of Perinatology website (http://www.nature.com/jp)

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Gold, K. Navigating care after a baby dies: a systematic review of parent experiences with health providers. J Perinatol 27, 230–237 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7211676

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