Mothers' experience of their contact with their stillborn infant: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.

BACKGROUND: Guidelines surrounding maternal contact with the stillborn infant have been contradictory over the past thirty years. Most studies have reported that seeing and holding the stillborn baby is associated with fewer anxiety and depressive symptoms among mothers of stillborn babies than not doing so. In contrast, others studies suggest that contact with the stillborn infant can lead to poorer maternal mental health outcomes. There is a lack of research focusing on the maternal experience of this contact. The present study aimed to investigate how mothers describe their experience of spending time with their stillborn baby and how they felt retrospectively about the decision they made to see and hold their baby or not. METHOD: In depth interviews were conducted with twenty-one mothers three months after stillbirth. All mothers had decided to see and the majority to hold their baby. Qualitative analysis of the interview data was performed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. RESULTS: Six superordinate themes were identified: Characteristics of Contact, Physicality; Emotional Experience; Surreal Experience; Finality; and Decision. Having contact with their stillborn infant provided mothers with time to process what had happened, to build memories, and to 'say goodbye', often sharing the experience with partners and other family members. The majority of mothers felt satisfied with their decision to spend time with their stillborn baby. Several mothers talked about their fear of seeing a damaged or dead body. Some mothers experienced strong disbelief and dissociation during the contact. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that preparation before contact with the baby, professional support during the contact, and professional follow-up are crucial in order to prevent the development of maternal mental health problems. Fears of seeing a damaged or dead body should be sensitively explored and ways of coping discussed. Even in cases where mothers experienced intense distress during the contact with their stillborn baby, they still described that having had this contact was important and that they had taken the right decision. This indicates a need for giving parents an informed choice by engaging in discussions about the possible benefits and risks of seeing their stillborn baby.

Jour de rien : la nuit sans les dieux. Paul Valéry, la mer, le matin

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) Professeur émérite de la Faculté de théologie protestante de Montpellier, dont il a occupé la chaire de dogmatique de 1971 à 1998, André Gounelle incarne, pour des générations d'étudiants et de lecteurs, une certaine idée de la rigueur intellectuelle. Son attention profonde à la pensée des autres, la forme lumineusement classique de son discours, sa probité radicale et sans réserve dans l'exercice de la critique sont les fondements de la tâche qu'il s'est donnée (formuler les conditions d'un croire possible), de la quête qui l'occupe (dire et penser le Dieu vivant), du grand souci qui le caractérise (transmettre et faire partager l'Évangile). La diversité des contributions qui composent ce volume signale à la fois l'étendue des champs d'exploration et l'ampleur du retentissement des travaux d'André Gounelle. Ses études sur la pensée religieuse et philosophique de Blaise Pascal ou de Paul Tillich, ses dialogues avec les théologiens de la mort de Dieu ou du Process et, bien sûr, ses nombreuses monographies sur la dogmatique chrétienne d'hier et d'aujourd'hui rayonnent bien au-delà des frontières de l'hexagone et du protestantisme. En témoignent, à leur manière, les titres de Docteur honoris causa que lui ont conféré l'Université de Lausanne et l'Université Laval de Québec. Le volume jubilaire que voici a été offert à André Gounelle à l'occasion de son soixante-dixième anniversaire. C'est à l'ami et au maître que les trente-et-un auteurs de ces mélanges ont tenu à exprimer leur estime et leur reconnaissance.