Maternal Bereavement Research Articles

A Comparison of Grief as Related to Miscarriage and Termination for Fetal Abnormality

This study proposed that maternal bereavement in women who experienced miscarriage and women who terminated for fetal abnormality would differ related to the existence of a grief reaction, and to identify the factors that differentiated the two groups. There were no significant grief differences between the miscarriage group and termination group. The groups were then combined to analyze within group factors. Six fixed variables were found to be related to vulnerability for a grief reaction. Factors included: time since the most recent loss; intervention of counseling; employment outside the home; feeling responsible for the perinatal loss; age of the mother as related to guilt; and gestational length of pregnancy.

Traumatic grief as a risk factor for mental and physical morbidity.

The aim of this study was to confirm and extend the authors' previous work indicating that symptoms of traumatic grief are predictors of future physical and mental health outcomes. The study group consisted of 150 future widows and widowers interviewed at the time of their spouse's hospital admission and at 6-week and 6-, 13-, and 25- month follow-ups. Traumatic grief was measured with a modified version of the Grief Measurement Scale. Mental and physical health outcomes were assessed by self-report and interviewer evaluation. Survival analysis and linear and logistic regressions were used to determine the risk for adverse mental and physical health outcomes posed by traumatic grief. Survival and regression analyses indicated that the presence of traumatic grief symptoms approximately 6 months after the death of the spouse predicted such negative health outcomes as cancer, heart trouble, high blood pressure, suicidal ideation, and changes in eating habits at 13- or 25-month follow-up. The results suggest that it may not be the stress of bereavement, per se, that puts individuals at risk for long-term mental and physical health impairments and adverse health behaviors. Rather, it appears that psychiatric sequelae such as traumatic grief are of critical importance in determining which bereaved individuals will be at risk for long-term dysfunction.

Reflexivity and Qualitative Family Research:

The author uses her experiences with death and bereavement to select her research problem and to become a sensitive collaborator and listener with others who had the same experience of the loss of a loved one. From deep listening and opening of her heart to colleagues she began the integration of personal, empirical, theoretical, practical and spiritual knowledge into her research. A reconceptualization of maternal bereavement occurred. It is an open, fluid, dialectical process of change.

Intuitive parenting and excessive infant crying: Regulatory processes and interactional failures

Substance use disorder (SUD) is associated with major socioeconomic consequences but its etiology is only partly known. The disease predisposition may be established early in life and prenatal stress may play a role. We aimed to examine whether prenatal maternal bereavement, as the indicator of prenatal stress, was associated with an increased risk of SUD in offspring.This population-based cohort study included all children born in Denmark (N = 1 686 416) and Sweden (N = 2 563 659) from 1973 to 1997. The exposure was maternal bereavement by the death of a close relative 1 year before or during pregnancy. Children were followed from 10 years of age until their death, migration, onset of substance abuse, or December 31st, 2007. The main outcome is hospitalization due to substance use disorder (SUD).A total of 100 363 children (2.45%) were born to mothers who had experienced bereavement 1 year before or during pregnancy. Overall, these exposed children had a similar risk of hospitalization due to SUD (IRR = 1.02, 95% CI: 0.98–1.07), compared to unexposed children. Children born to mothers who lost a spouse during pregnancy had a two-fold risk (IRR = 2.19, 95% CI: 1.74–2.76) and similar elevated risks were observed in children whose mothers lost a spouse during the first 10 years after child birth.Our data do not support a programming role of prenatal stress following maternal bereavement on SUD later in life. The increased risk in relation to spousal bereavement may mostly be explained by postpartum changes in familial environment.

A long way from home: Thinking about international students

Abstract Drawing on work undertaken in a welfare context with students from overseas, this paper considers the effect of migration on the internal and external worlds of vulnerable individuals. Advancing die working notion that there is a simultaneous experiencing of maternal bereavement and the return of early infant anxieties, the paper makes use of Klein (1946) in its statement of the crisis and of Winnicott (1958, 1971) for suggestions for its resolution.

The Long Term Effects of Childhood Bereavement: Impact on Roles as Mothers

This study explored the effects of early maternal bereavement on future maternal functioning by comparing life experiences of twenty-eight mothers whose mother died in childhood or adolescence with twenty-three women who lived with both parents through adolescence. The bereaved participants showed more severe symptoms of depression, including suicidality, in adolescence. Given this level of depression, expectations were that they would have difficulty as parents. The bereaved women worried more about their own death, were overprotective, and pushed harder to be perfect, but there were no significant differences between the groups on three measures of parental functioning. It is hypothesized that parenting presented an opportunity for resolution of earlier developmental deficits and provided an impetus for mourning to proceed.

Maternal bereavement in the perinatal substance abuser

Maternal bereavement has been reported in involuntary perinatal loss and voluntary custody relinquishment. Since child custody loss is common among childbearing chemically dependent women, maternal bereavement was investigated in a small pilot sample of obstetric substance abusers. Findings suggest that grief in anticipation of possible postnatal custody loss is common. Unresolved grief from previous custody loss was also common. Clinical features, treatment considerations, and public health concerns are discussed.

Psychodynamics of perinatal loss.

Medical and mental health professionals have been slow to recognize and treat the often traumatic impact of perinatal death. It has only been within the past ten years that researchers have begun to appreciate that a miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death can be a devastating loss to the parent, especially the mother (Berezin 1982; Borg and Lasker 1981; Friedman and Gladstein 1982; Peppers and Knapp 1980a). Bereaved mothers mourn pregnancy loss through the grieving process, which includes denial, yearning and despair, usually followed by recovery. Typical maternal reactions during the first months of grief are shock, disbelief, sleeplessness, irritability, crying, sadness, rage, anxiety, somatic distress and sometimes hallucinatory experience of the dead baby (Dunlop 1979; Giles 1970; Kennell et al. 1970; Kirkley-Best and Kellner 1982; Peppers and Knapp 1980b). This paper will explore the impact of perinatal death on the psychological resolution of pregnancy. In order to evaluate the outcome of maternal bereavement, the meanings of the perinatal death in the context of the revived conflicts and identifications occurring in the pregnancy will be considered. After presenting key concepts in the psychoanalytic interpretation of pregnancy, I will discuss the unique aspects of perinatal loss. A clinical case will then be described in some detail to illustrate an adaptive resolution of perinatal loss.

Maternal Bereavement

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Book ReviewNo AccessMaternal BereavementC. E. Schorer, M.D.C. E. SchorerDetroit, MISearch for more papers by this author, M.D.Published Online:30 Apr 2018https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1986.40.4.630AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail "Maternal Bereavement." American Journal of Psychotherapy, 40(4), p. 630 Access content To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access. Personal login Institutional Login Sign in via OpenAthens Purchase Save for later Item saved, go to cart PPV Articles - APT - American Journal of Psychotherapy $35.00 Add to cart PPV Articles - APT - American Journal of Psychotherapy Checkout Please login/register if you wish to pair your device and check access availability. Not a subscriber? Subscribe Now / Learn More PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5 library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development. Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.). FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited byNone Volume 40Issue 4 1986, pp. 497–642Pages 630-630 Metrics PDF download History Published online 30 April 2018 Published in print 1 October 1986

Maternal Bereavement: Coping With the Unexpected Death of a Child

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article ArticleNo AccessMaternal Bereavement: Coping With the Unexpected Death of a ChildGEORGE H. POLLOCKGEORGE H. POLLOCKSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 Apr 2006https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.142.11.1384AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail "Maternal Bereavement: Coping With the Unexpected Death of a Child." American Journal of Psychiatry, 142(11), p. 1384 Access content To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access. Personal login Institutional Login Sign in via OpenAthens Purchase Save for later Item saved, go to cart PPV Articles - American Journal of Psychiatry $35.00 Add to cart PPV Articles - American Journal of Psychiatry Checkout Please login/register if you wish to pair your device and check access availability. Not a subscriber? Subscribe Now / Learn More PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5 library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development. Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.). FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByNone Volume 142Issue 11 November 1985Pages 1384-1384 Metrics PDF download History Published online 1 April 2006 Published in print 1 November 1985

Review of Maternal bereavement, Recovery from bereavement and Bitter, bitter tears.

Review of Maternal bereavement, Recovery from bereavement and Bitter, bitter tears.

Review of Maternal Bereavement: Coping With the Unexpected Death of a Child.

Review of Maternal Bereavement: Coping With the Unexpected Death of a Child.

Suicide following bereavement of parents

1. A consecutive series of 75 suicides was compared with 150 living comparison cases equivalent in age group, sex, single marital status and area of residence. 2. Similar proportions of parents of suicides and controls survived to enter the final quinquennium before suicide. 3. Within this quinquennium, significantly more suicides than controls were bereaved of either parent, and of their mothers. 4. The three years before suicide showed the greatest excess of maternal bereavement among suicides. 5. Almost 60% of the bereaved suicides showed a predisposition to mental illness before their bereavement: they had psychiatric treatment, attempted suicide or had a positive family history. 41% received psychiatric treatment after they were bereaved and before killing themselves. 6. Male suicides had significantly more maternal bereavement than male controls; female suicides did not differ significantly from controls. 7. Single suicides were significantly more often bereaved of a mother than single controls; currently married suicides and controls did not differ significantly. 8. Unmarried sons recently bereaved of a mother appeared a vulnerable group for suicide.

Parental loss in adults with emotional disorders.

THE PAST 35 years have seen the publication of more than 50 reports which have been concerned with the relationships of early parental deprivation to the development of psychiatric illness. In spite of this, the significance of childhood parental loss in the histories of adults with mental disorders remains unknown, or unclear at best. Witness the following conflicting statements which have appeared recently in the literature: "Maternal bereavement occurred more frequently in . . . psychoneurotic patients than in the total population."¹"Parental loss incidence in neurotics and controls was almost identical."²". . . schizophrenic patients . . . have suffered loss of a mother in childhood by an amount that differs significantly from the control group."³"The results ... do not confirm the presence of a higher incidence of overall parental deprivation in schizophrenic patients than in normal controls."⁴Other evidence attesting to the inconclusive state

Season of birth. An epidemiological study in psychiatry.

Psychiatric patients have been shown to differ from the normal population in important features of early development. Numerous clinical investigations reviewed by Bowlby 3 have indicated that the development of mental illness may be traceable to conditions and events occurring early in life. Two statistical studies 1,2 have shown a relationship between maternal bereavement during the first few years of life and the subsequent development of psychiatric illness. A number of other statistical studies, summarized later in the present paper, have tested whether psychotic patients differ from the normal population in the distribution of months of birth. One reason why such studies have been done is undoubtedly the ease of collecting the data. Mental hospitals routinely attempt to record the date of birth of every patient; the accurate month of birth is usually obtainable from the patient or a close relative. The monthly

Critical ages for maternal bereavement in psychoneuroses.

Maternal bereavement occurred more frequently in a series of 947 psychoneurotic patients than in the total population. The difference is statistically significant. Deaths of fathers followed a strikingly dissimilar pattern. The impact of maternal death was most pronounced in early childhood and in female patients. In the latter the critical age was under 9 years. Little girls were particularly vulnerable to the death of their mothers before the age of 3. In males, the relationship between maternal death and subsequent neurosis was, in the present series, at most suggestive. Data on causes of separation other than death, though less precise, are consistent with the findings on bereavement. Previous studies indicate that maternal death is important for both males and females in delinquency and psychosis. Future reports should specify which parent died and the age of the child when bereaved. The term “broken home,” unless qualified to indicate whether by death, divorce, imprisonment, etc., is obsolete in psychiatric statistical studies and should be abandoned.