Experiences of Miscarriage

• Experiences are unique and both men and women experience grief, anxiety, depressive symptoms after a miscarriage.The overall aim was to describe and measure experiences among women and men after a miscarriage.Study one was a qualitative study with interviews with Swedish midwives' and nurses' experiences of women's reactions after routine ultrasonographic diagnosis of a missed miscarriage.Study two concerned validation of "The revised impact of miscarriage scale" for Swedish conditions and a comparison of Swedish and American women's and men's experiences of miscarriage.Study three was a longitudinal study of Swedish women's and men's emotions.Study four was a longitudinal study, on women's feelings in relation to diagnosis and treatment.Scales about experiences, grief, and depressive symptom were used.The results showed that midwives perceived that the women had had a premonition of symptoms of a missed miscarriage and a follow-up was performed. The degree of consistency showed that the questionnaire can be used in a Swedish setting. The Swedish and American women and men scored similarly in two factors, and the women's experiences were more pronounced than the men's. Grief and depressive symptoms became reduced over time, while experiences persisted. No previous children, miscarriage or infertility treatment prior to miscarriage made the experience worse especially grief reaction. There was no difference between the two diagnosis groups in experiences one week after the miscarriage and their experience improved after four months. Women treated with misoprostol had more depressive symptoms than women treated with misoprostol and subsequent vacuum aspiration.In conclusion, care providers can confirm women's premonition of a missed miscarriage so a diagnosis can be set early in the pregnancy and they can do an individual follow-up. The high consistency between the countries in two factors show that RIMS is reliable for both women and men. Grief and depressive symptoms become reduced, while experiences persist. Previous miscarriage, lack of previous children and an infertility diagnosis can lead to negative feelings as grief. A diagnosis of miscarriage has a limited influence on experiences, and a shorter duration of treatment and treatment with misoprostol and subsequent vacuum aspiration led to a fewer depressive symptom.

Nyckelord

Miscarriage

spontaneous abortion

missed abortion

pregnancy loss

gender

measurement

emotion

care

stress

Medicinsk vetenskap

Medical Science

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