Bo's Place - Where Children are Heard and Hearts are Healed

Bereavement Support for Couples Following Death of a Baby: Program Development and 14-Year Exit Analysis

Authors:
Reilly-Smorawski, Bernadette
Armstrong, Anne V.

Source:
Death Studies: 2002. Volume 26, pp. 21-37.

Summary

The article describes a program developed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children that provided grief support groups for parents whose infants died in the hospital. Exit analyses were conducted over a 14 year time period.  The program was a hospital-based, time-limited (12 weeks), closed group, and was facilitated by two senior staff nurses. The majority of group participants were married, middle-class, and from the local area.  Topics discussed during the program included the baby’s death, personal grief experiences, couple issues, and the future.  Results showed that participants found attending the groups to be helpful. Participating parents reported an increased ability to understand different grief experiences and to negotiate such differences, while maintaining the marital relationship.

Key words: child, couple, intervention, support

Service Provider Implications

This article adds to the literature suggesting that grief support groups are beneficial to couples grieving the death of an infant. Elements of the support groups that were considered helpful included a safe place to grieve and to be supported by other bereaved parents. The article suggests that although mothers and fathers may grieve differently, involvement in the grief support group stimulates discussions that are healing and beneficial.