Barriers and facilitators in coping with perinatal loss: A meta-ethnography

Abstract

Perinatal loss (miscarriages, eugenic abortions, stillbirth or neonatal death) causes a series of painful emotional reactions in short term (shock, anger, emptiness, helplessness and loneliness) and long term (depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress) and to which parents they must respond (Cacciatore, 2010; Murphy, Shevlin, & Elklit, 2014). Despite the psychological impact on parents, health professionals consider caring for these parents stressful and challenging, and they feel unprepared to support them (Martinez-Serrano, Palmar-Santos, Solis-Munoz, Alvarez-Plaza, & Pedraz- Marcos, 2018; Shorey, André, & Lopez, 2016). Attention to these families is crucial to avoid negative results in the short and long term (Ellis et al., 2016). This review aims to synthesize the available body of qualitative work to know the coping experiences of women and men after perinatal loss.