Women’s experiences of stillbirth in Somaliland: A phenomenological description

Abstract

Background: Low- and middle-income countries in Africa have the highest rates of stillbirths in the world today: as such, the stories of the grief of these women who have had a stillbirth in these settings need to be told and the silence on stillbirth needs to be broken. In an attempt to fill this gap, the aim of this study was to describe the experiences of Muslim Somali mothers who have lost their babies at birth. Method: Qualitative interviews with ten Somali women one to six months after they experienced a stillbirth. Data were analyzed using Giorgi’s method of phenomenological description. Results: In the analysis, four descriptive structures emerged: “a feeling of alienation”; “altered stability in life”; “immediate pain when the sight of the dead baby turns into a precious memory”; and “a wave of despair eases”. Together, these supported the essence: “Balancing feelings of anxiety, fear and worries for one’s own health and life by accepting Allah's will and putting one’s trust in him”. Conclusions: This study makes an important contribution to our knowledge about how stillbirth is experienced by women in Somaliland. This information can be useful when health care providers communicate the experiences of stillbirth to women of Muslim faith who have experienced an intrauterine fatal death (IUFD) resulting in a stillbirth.