Brief report: sedatives for mothers of stillborn infants: views from a national survey of obstetricians.
Although no guidelines support the use of benzodiazepines in bereavement care, clinicians continue to use this medication for surviving family members. An anonymous survey about perinatal death was sent to 1500 United States obstetricians. One question assessed beliefs about prescribing sedatives to bereaved mothers. Almost half (49%) of 804 obstetricians endorsed the use of sedatives, such as benzodiazepines, for acute bereavement. Grieving families may experience mental and physical anguish after a death; however, benzodiazepines are not part of recommended care for bereavement. The surprisingly high support from physicians for the use of sedatives in the case of maternal grief raises important questions about how physicians can best support bereaved mothers and what effect benzodiazepines may have in the grieving process.
Gold
Katherine J
KJ
Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104-1213, USA. ktgold@umich.edu
Schwenk
Thomas L
TL
Johnson
Timothy R B
TR
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001601:Bereavement; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005313:Fetal Death; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008429:Maternal Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States
D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D001569:Benzodiazepines