Vigilance in parents' experiences of fetal and infant loss.
OBJECTIVE
To develop an in-depth understanding of the experiences and contexts of fetal and infant mortality from the perspective of women and men who experienced a fetal or infant loss.


METHODS
Qualitative, descriptive.


METHODS
Small urban community of 100,000.


METHODS
Eleven women and four men who experienced a fetal (>14 weeks) or infant loss between 2006 and 2008.


METHODS
Naturalistic inquiry.


RESULTS
Vigilance was described as a part of the experience of fetal and infant mortality for study participants. Vigilance was defined as "doing everything possible to help this baby make it" despite poverty, health care inequity, and stress. Stories demonstrated vigilance amidst neighborhood violence, poverty, and stress; during early pregnancy; during changes occurring in the participants or with their babies; and when explanations of cause of death(s) were not clear. The participants desired healthy pregnancies and healthy infants; however, vigilance may have contributed to the risk for fetal and infant loss with these families.


CONCLUSIONS
Further study about vigilance has the potential to help health care providers understand the dynamics and consequences of fetal and infant mortality.
Henrietta Schmoll School of Health, Department of Nursing, St. Catherine University, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA. ewnowak@stkate.edu
Emily W
EW
Nowak
Patricia E
PE
Stevens
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001293:Attitude to Death; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death; D006117:Grief; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009769:Object Attachment; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012944:Social Support; D050497:Stillbirth; D055815:Young Adult