TY - JOUR
T1 - 'I should have seen her face at least once': parent's and healthcare providers' experiences and practices of care after stillbirth in Kabul province, Afghanistan
AU - Christou, Aliki
AU - Alam, Ashraful
AU - Hofiani, Sayed Murtaza Sadat
AU - Mubasher, Adela
AU - Rasooly, Mohammad Hafiz
AU - Rashidi, Mohammad Khakerah
AU - Raynes-Greenow, Camille
N1 - NPP; No ITM affiliation.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore bereaved parents' and healthcare providers experiences of care after stillbirth.STUDY DESIGN: Qualitative in-depth interviews with 55 women, men, female elders, healthcare providers and key informants in Kabul province, Afghanistan between October and November 2017.RESULTS: Inadequate and insensitive communication and practices by healthcare providers, including avoiding or delaying disclosing the stillbirth were recurring concerns. There was a disconnect between parents' desires and healthcare provider's perceptions. The absence of shared decision-making on seeing and holding the baby and memory-making, manifested as profound regret. Health providers' reported hospitals were not equipped to separate women who had a stillbirth and acknowledged that psychological support would be beneficial. However, the absence of trained personnel and resource constraints prevented provision of such support.CONCLUSION: Findings can inform future provision of perinatal bereavement care. Given resource constraints, communication training can be considered with longer term goals to develop context-appropriate bereavement care guidelines.
AB - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore bereaved parents' and healthcare providers experiences of care after stillbirth.STUDY DESIGN: Qualitative in-depth interviews with 55 women, men, female elders, healthcare providers and key informants in Kabul province, Afghanistan between October and November 2017.RESULTS: Inadequate and insensitive communication and practices by healthcare providers, including avoiding or delaying disclosing the stillbirth were recurring concerns. There was a disconnect between parents' desires and healthcare provider's perceptions. The absence of shared decision-making on seeing and holding the baby and memory-making, manifested as profound regret. Health providers' reported hospitals were not equipped to separate women who had a stillbirth and acknowledged that psychological support would be beneficial. However, the absence of trained personnel and resource constraints prevented provision of such support.CONCLUSION: Findings can inform future provision of perinatal bereavement care. Given resource constraints, communication training can be considered with longer term goals to develop context-appropriate bereavement care guidelines.
U2 - 10.1038/s41372-020-00907-5
DO - 10.1038/s41372-020-00907-5
M3 - A1: Web of Science-article
C2 - 33408332
SN - 0743-8346
VL - 41
SP - 2182
EP - 2195
JO - Journal of Perinatology
JF - Journal of Perinatology
IS - 9
ER -