Mw. Kuseisingschulte et al., MENTAL COPING WITH STILLBIRTH - COURSE OF GRIEF RESPONSE, INFLUENCINGFACTORS, SATISFACTION WITH TREATMENT, NEED FOR PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC SUPPORT, Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde, 56(7), 1996, pp. 380-389
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).