MENTAL COPING WITH STILLBIRTH - COURSE OF GRIEF RESPONSE, INFLUENCINGFACTORS, SATISFACTION WITH TREATMENT, NEED FOR PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC SUPPORT

The emotional response to a late miscarriage or a stillbirth was exami ned retrospectively in a systematic study involving 51 patients. The w omen had lost a child either by stillbirth (beyond the 20th week of ge station) or shortly after delivery. We assessed the long-term course o f possible determinants of grief, a complicated grief response, as wel l as the patients' satisfaction with the treatment and their need for further psychotherapeutic support. The mourning response was complicat ed by a depressive reaction in 22%. Major risk factors were individual disposition, lack of partner and professional support. The findings r eveal that the course of the grief response is positively influenced b y: 1. open discussion (thematisation) with the skilled personnel and t he patients' families, 2. direct or indirect contact with the deceased child (concretisation) and 3. the patients concerned being extensivel y informed as to place and circumstances of the funeral (whereabouts o f the child).