title: Being alone in silence - mothers' experiences upon confirmation of their baby's death in utero.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to explore mothers' experiences of the confirmation of ultrasound examination results and how they were told that their baby had died in-utero.
  
  
  METHODS
  in-depth interviews.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sweden.
  
  
  METHODS
  26 mothers of stillborn babies.
  
  
  METHODS
  narratives were analysed using a qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach.
  
  
  RESULTS
  the mothers experienced that silence prevailed during the entire process of confirming the ultrasound results. Typically all present in the ultrasound room were concentrating and focusing on what they observed on the screen, no one spoke to the mother. The mothers had an instinctive feeling that their baby might be dead based on what they observed on the ultrasound screen and on their interpretation of the body language of the clinicians and midwives. Some mothers reported a time delay in receiving information about their baby's death. Experiencing uncertainty about the information received was also noticed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  mothers emphasised an awareness of silence and feelings of being completely alone while being told of the baby's death.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the prevalence of silence during an ultrasound examination may in certain cases cause further psychological trauma for the mother of a stillborn baby. One way to move forward given these results may be to provide obstetric personnel sufficient training on how difficult information might be more effectively and sensitively provided in the face of an adverse pregnancy outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing Science, Sophiahemmet University, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: ingela.radestad@shh.se.
authors.forename: Ingela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rådestad
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Social Studies, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden; Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mari-Cristin
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Malm
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Care Sciences, The Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institute, Sweden.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lindgren
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institute, Sweden.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pettersson
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing Science, Sophiahemmet University, Stockholm, Sweden; Palliative Research Centre, Ersta University College, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lise-Lotte Franklin
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Larsson
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D013548:Sweden; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal
keywords: Information; Intrauterine death; Stillbirth; Ultrasound