They Say I Should not Think About It

”: A Qualitative Study Exploring the Experience of Infant Loss for Bereaved Mothers in Kumasi, Ghana

Dados Bibliográficos

ID13629924
AutoresAnna C Meyer (0000-0003-2749-7179, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA), Constance Opoku (Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana), Katherine J Gold (0000-0002-0495-5782, University of Michigan, autor correspondente)
Ano2016
Volume77
Fascículo3
Páginas267-279
Data de publicação2016-02-07
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0030222816629165
PMID29940827
OpenAlexW2397152524
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas10
Referências citadas12

Despite the high rate of infant mortality in Ghana, few studies have explored the maternal experience of infant loss and the perinatal grieving process. As part of a larger study that interviewed 153 mothers with a sick infant, this 1-year follow-up study reinterviewed eight mothers from the original cohort whose infant died since the study began. Mothers were queried about mental health, coping, and cultural issues related to the loss. Mothers were often discouraged from speaking or thinking about the death due to fear of psychological harm and impact on fertility. Primary coping mechanisms involved seeking support within the community and accepting the loss as God's will. Mothers desired more communication from health-care providers at the time of death. Despite the cultural norm of silent acceptance in the face of perinatal loss, intense maternal grief and desire to mourn may allow more opportunities for health-care workers to support bereaved mothers

Coping (psychology · Developmental psychology · Disenfranchised grief · Environmental health · Grief · Harm · Infant mortality · Mental health · Population · Psychiatry · Qualitative research · Global Maternal and Child Health · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology · Social Psychology