RESOLUTION OF PARENTAL BEREAVEMENT AFTER A PERINATAL LOSS

This is a follow-up study of 25 middle-class, expectant, married couples who had experienced a perinatal loss (16 miscarriages, seven stillbirths, and two neonatal deaths) within the previous 2 years and who subsequently gave birth to a healthy child. The Perinatal Bereavement Scale (PBS) had been previously completed during the 8th month of the subsequent pregnancy and at 6 weeks postnatally. In this study, the PBS was completed 16 months after the birth of the subsequent child. The hypothesis was that the parents who experienced a late perinatal loss (stillbirth and neonatal death) would display more unresolved grief 16 months after the subsequent child was born compared to parents who had experienced an early loss (miscarriage). The late group mothers had significantly higher PBS scores than either the early group mothers or early group fathers at 16 months postnatally. © 1990, The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. All rights reserved.