Gravid igen efter fördröjt missfall - Behov av professionellt psykosocialt stöd

Sammanfattning

About 15-20% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. The phenomenon is common throughout the population, but bereaved women and couples struggle nonetheless. Lang et al. (2011) have shown that a miscarriage can cause shock, grief and pain and lead women into questioning their reproductive abilities. Hiefner (2012) has argued that pregnancy loss is surrounded by a norm of silence, making it difficult to talk openly about the experiences and also limiting the societal understanding of the matter. Earlier studies have also found that feelings of fear and uncertainty can return in the event of a new pregnancy. How can professionals, such as hospital counselors, better support these women? This was examined in the following study. The study was conducted through a qualitative survey, where semi-structured interviews were used as collection method. Four women, who have suffered from missed abortions and later on have become pregnant again, where interviewed. The data was analyzed with Aaron Antonovsky’s (2005) theory of sense of coherence, Arlie Hochschild’s (2012) theory about emotion management and Johan Cullberg’s (2006) work on traumatic crises and professional crisis support. The result has shown that the women have mobilized a variety of coping strategies, but the need for professional support has been made clear. Pain, mourning and shame were recurring themes in the interviews. All four women reported that learning about the miscarriage several weeks after it had occurred made them feel betrayed by their bodies. This affected them negatively when they became pregnant again. Hope and faith appeared to play a significant role in order to be able to feel calm and safe during a new pregnancy. It was therefore concluded that it is of great importance that counselors and medical staff help women by holding on to the hope, when the patients are unable to do that on their own.