TOP TAKE-AWAYS: THE FATHERS' PERSPECTIVE

Serrano and Lima (2006) surveyed 30 couples to gain a better understanding of the impact of recurrent consecutive miscarriages on their relationship.  

• 90% of the couples were married and were in a relationship for an average of 6.66 years;  
• The average age of mothers was 31.73; the average age of fathers was 33.63;
• 76.7% of the couples reported 3 miscarriages, 20% reported 4; 1 couple reported 6 miscarriages;
• The couples in this study did not have living children and their most recent miscarriage occurred anywhere from three months to over one year prior to completing the survey.

Both partners answered questions about their grief, distress, relationship quality and sexuality following their most recent miscarriage.  

TOP TAKE-AWAYS: THINKING ABOUT WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

Callander, Brown,Tata, and Regan (2007) studied the thought processes of 62 women, between the ages of 24 and 44, who had expereinced recurrent miscarriages.

• The average age was 35; 
• The average number of miscarriages was 4.45;
• The average amount of time since the most recent miscarriage was 6.45 months; 
• 27 of the women had children and 35 did not have children; 
• 69.4% reported high levels of anxiety;  
• 33.9% reported high levels of depression.   

The study focused on counterfactual thinking, a common thought process after traumatic events.  

What is counterfactual thinking?  

TOP TAKE-AWAYS: SEARCHING FOR MEANING AFTER PREGNANCY LOSS

Ten women who had a miscarriage at age 35 or older were interviewed. The primary research question was: “How do women of advanced maternal age perceive and describe their experience of miscarriage?”

HEALING THROUGH STORYTELLING: NICOLE CORRADO'S STORY

I always wanted more children and at 38, I decided to make that dream a reality.  Unfortunately, I had a miscarriage. It was early on. A couple of weeks after finding out I was pregnant, I started cramping.  I had no idea what was happening, but I knew something was wrong. I had been pregnant before and have two healthy grown boys.  I just figured this would be a healthy pregnancy also. But after the cramping, I started bleeding, so I called my doctor. The doctor said I was probably having a miscarriage.  I was in horrible pain both physically and mentally. Just waiting for it to all be over.

TOP TAKE-AWAYS: SELF-BLAME FOLLOWING PREGNANCY LOSS

We’ve had the pleasure of working with Taylor Thomas, an undergraduate student who has been analyzing some of our survey data for her Honors Symposium project.

Taylor’s project particularly focused on the relationship between self-blame and grief.

TOP TAKE-AWAYS: GRIEF AND COPING AMONG COUPLES FOLLOWING PREGNANCY LOSS

The IPL Collaborative presented our most recent research findings at the Eastern Psychological Association conference on March 2nd.

In the morning, we presented our talk, “Perceived Incongruent Grief Following Pregnancy Loss.” We presented some of the results from our recent survey study that examined how incongruent grief (as perceived by mothers), influenced relationship satisfaction and commitment.

TOP TAKE-AWAYS: WHY SOCIETY DISMISSES MISCARRIAGE

How women are treated by society after a miscarriage can dramatically impact their grieving process.  Dr. Rayna Markin, a maternal mental health clinician and researcher, gathered information from a number of research articles and her own experiences with patients on the impact family, friends, and even healthcare professionals can have on women who suffer from miscarriage (Markin, 2016).  Our main take-away from her article mirrors the feelings we have heard from many women about their pregnancy loss experience(s).  

As a whole, society is not effective at recognizing miscarriage as real loss and often does not support grieving parents in a constructive, sympathetic manner.  

RESPONSE TO TOP TAKE-AWAY: ONE WOMAN’S EXPERIENCE WITH BIOCHEMICAL PREGNANCY

In response to our blog post last week, “Top Take-Aways: Biochemical Pregnancy,” this week we are highlighting some commentary from one of our readers on her experience with biochemical pregnancy.  We were particularly moved by her overall thoughts on biochemical pregnancy.  She wrote, 

“Chemical pregnancy is super awkward. You feel silly for being sad and doctors don’t address it as a real loss, so you’re in this weird limbo.”

TOP TAKE-AWAYS: BIOCHEMICAL PREGNANCY

For some of you, the words “Biochemical Pregnancy” might hit home, as you have experienced one (or more).  For many others, you may have just thought to yourself, “What is a biochemical pregnancy?”  Unfortunately, it is a term that many people are not familiar with...until they experience one.  

The goal of this Top Take-Away is to shed some light on biochemical pregnancies and discuss how early detection pregnancy tests are contributing to more women being aware that they have experienced a very early loss.  

An article published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine Research examined biochemical pregnancies during assisted conception (e.g., In vitro fertilization).  Although this article focused on the occurrence of biochemical pregnancies during assisted conception, it highlights important statistics regarding chemical pregnancies in general that we feel every woman should know.  

What is a biochemical pregnancy? 

TOP TAKE-AWAYS: POSTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND PREGNANCY LOSS

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is often associated with experiencing events like combat or a natural disaster. However, PTSD can occur after any traumatic event, and pregnancy loss can be very traumatic for many women.

A study published in 2016 examined the psychological symptoms faced by women who experience an early pregnancy loss before 20 weeks.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

2018 Involuntary Pregnancy Loss Conference

The IPL Collaborative will be hosting the 2018 Involuntary Pregnancy Loss Conference at Holy Family University on October 12, 2018. The hope is to bring together professionals from a variety of disciplines (e.g., Psychology, Sociology, Social Work, Public Policy, Economics, Midwifery, Nursing, OB/GYN, Maternal Fetal Medicine) to share research/findings regarding the psychosocial impact of pregnancy loss.

For more information, please visit:

www.holyfamily.edu/ipl-conference#about-the-conference

If you have research/professional findings you wish to share, we encourage you to submit an abstract via our conference webpage.  For all interested in learing more about pregnancy loss we encourage you to register to attend.  We hope to see you there!

TOP TAKE-AWAYS: NEW BLOG SERIES HIGHLIGHTING IMPORTANT TAKE-AWAYS FROM MISCARRIAGE RESEARCH

The IPL Collaborative is a group of researchers interested in creating meaningful dialogue about the psychosocial impact of pregnancy loss through research, advocacy, and storytelling. It was started by three social science faculty members and friends who have all experienced their own involuntary pregnancy losses and wanted to transition their experiences into something positive.

One of the issues we see is the difficulty people outside of academia experience when trying to find scientific research and reliable information about miscarriage and pregnancy loss. Living through miscarriage can be a scary, emotion-filled experience. Having access to quality information may help ease the burden of the experience.

Celebrities Call Out The Stigma Surrounding Pregnancy Loss In Moving Video

So grateful for this moving article/video and helping us break the silence.

Huffpost Video Link