Informing mothers of neonatal death and the need for family‐centered bereavement care: A phenomenological qualitative study

Purpose To understand the lived experience of mothers surrounding the time of being informed of neonatal deaths in intensive care units. Design A phenomenological qualitative approach was employed. Methods Twelve mothers (age 24–41 years) were identified from the neonatal mortality records of two la...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for specialists in pediatric nursing 2021-04, Vol.26 (2), p.e12328-n/a
Main Authors: Abdel Razeq, Nadin M., Al‐Gamal, Ekhlas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
bereavement
burial
Families & family life
funeral rites
Funerals
Grief
Holistic nursing
Infant mortality
Intensive care
Mothers
neonatal death
Newborn babies
Nursing
Pediatrics
Qualitative research
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Summary:Purpose To understand the lived experience of mothers surrounding the time of being informed of neonatal deaths in intensive care units. Design A phenomenological qualitative approach was employed. Methods Twelve mothers (age 24–41 years) were identified from the neonatal mortality records of two large neonatal intensive care units with high neonate turnover rates in Amman, Jordan. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with the participants. Interpretive phenomenology was used to generate themes regarding the essence of the mother's experience. Results Critical analyses of mothers' accounts revealed three major themes: (a) Minimize the hurt, which described how mothers intuited overprotection by their families while the news was conveyed indirectly to them; (b) The striking reality of death, which captured mothers' distressing experiences while realizing the loss of their neonates; and (c) Farwell my baby, which accentuated mothers' needs and experiences while neonates' bodies were honored and prepared for burial per the cultural norms in Jordan. Practice Implications Our findings highlighted the complex dynamics of familial interactions and cultural influences on mothers' bereavement experiences at the time of neonatal death. The grieving mothers expressed unfulfilled needs of receiving professional bereavement support at the time of neonatal death. Strategies are needed to optimize the supportive role of specialized nurses in providing family‐centered bereavement care to mothers and their families who experience neonatal death.
ISSN:1539-0136
1744-6155
DOI:10.1111/jspn.12328