Providing perinatal loss care: satisfying and dissatisfying aspects for midwives.
OBJECTIVE
There is limited midwifery research that focuses on midwives experiences and attitudes to providing care for women who experience the death of a baby. There is also limited research investigating care components, and evidence to inform the basis of clinical practice in Australia and internationally. This paper presents the qualitative findings of a small study that aimed to investigate midwives experience, confidence and satisfaction with providing care for women who experienced perinatal loss.


METHODS
Eighty-three Western Australian midwives responded to an open ended question asking them to describe the most and least satisfying aspects of their role when providing care to women who experienced a perinatal loss. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.


RESULTS
The analysis revealed that Australian midwives gained most satisfaction from providing skilled midwifery care that they considered made a difference to women. This was enabled when midwives were afforded the opportunity to provide continuity of midwifery carer to women throughout the labour, birth and early postnatal period. In terms of the least satisfying aspects of care, midwives identified that they struggled with the emotional commitment needed to provide perinatal loss care, as well as with how to communicate openly and share information with women.


CONCLUSIONS
Within the context of the study setting, midwifery care for women following perinatal loss reflects the care components espoused in the literature. There are, however, organisational issues within health care that require commitment to continuity of care and further education of practitioners to enhance outcomes for clients.
Fenwick
Jennifer
J
Curtin University Technology & King Edward Memorial Hospital, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia. j.fenwick@curtin.edu.au
Jennings
Belinda
B
Downie
Jill
J
Butt
Janice
J
Okanaga
Mayumi
M
D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000451:nursing*; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000379:methods*; D008880:Midwifery / Q000379:methods*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011247:Pregnancy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014904:Western Australia