Active grief, despair and difficulty coping: Some measured characteristics of male response following their partner's miscarriage

Abstract

There has been relatively little published research on the effects upon men of their partner's miscarriage. Some interim findings from the first large study in the UK are indicated. Male partners (n = 323) of women who miscarried were administered the Perinatal Grief Scale (PGS), scoring on overall grief not dissimilarly to female cohorts who had miscarried. Analysis of the PGS scores suggests characteristic differences in the way grief is handled by males and females, with males displaying less immediate ‘active grief’, but being more vulnerable to feelings of ‘despair’ and ‘difficulty in coping’. The duration of the pregnancy prior to miscarriage and the experience of seeing an ultrasound scan appear to be factors in raised levels of grief in these men.