The Controversy over Pastoral Care of Parents after a Stillbirth

Abstract

Studies published in the last few years have suggested that the current practice in hospital obstetric units of encouraging parents to spend time with, hold, and even care for their stillborn fetus or baby may be deleterious to them. Rather than helping to allay grieving and successfully bring mourning to closure, mothers who had increasing levels of contact with the body of their stillborn baby were incrementally more likely to suffer depression and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in their next pregnancy and to have difficulty with attachment to their next child. These findings parallel observations from meta-analyses that question the efficacy of single-session debriefing (Critical Incident Stress Debriefing) after psychological trauma in preventing the later emergence of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Although not conclusive, these initial studies support the urgent need for further research to allow evidence-based pastoral care for those whose pregnancies end in stillbirth and loss. Given this much uncertainty about the risks posed by contact with her stillborn baby, mothers who do not chose to see their dead infants should not be persuaded to do so on the grounds of beneficence.