Recurrent Perinatal Loss: A Case Study

To date, investigators have not demonstrated a clear relationship between a parent's history of prior perinatal losses and intensity of grief response following a subsequent perinatal loss. Examining this relationship for low-income, African-American parents is important because they are a vulnerable population due to the high incidence of perinatal mortality in Blacks and their other life stressors that can impact on grief response and caring needs. The purpose of this case study was to examine the impact of recurrent perinatal loss on a low-income African-American parent. The research design for this study was case report, using interview data collected from a mother who had recently experienced her fourth perinatal loss, which occurred at twenty-five weeks of gestation. Transcripts from two open-ended interviews were analyzed. The theoretical framework used to guide analysis of this case study was Lazarus and Folkman's stress and coping theory. Results demonstrated that the prior perinatal losses did not appear as critical components of the way the mother responded to her most recent loss. Instead, perception of the care she received from healthcare providers and how that care related to her experiences with her one living child who was born at the same gestational age was an important determinant in how she responded to her loss. The results of this case study demonstrate the importance assessing a person's perception of their experience and those factors which contribute to the way they respond.