Have you always wanted to better understand the emotional impact of pregnancy loss? We’ll be unveiling our new study on this in 3 days – THIS FRIDAY!

Our study shows that people suffer, silently and often alone, for years – even decades – after pregnancy loss. The study also suggests that years of pain could be addressed earlier through improved medical screening.

 Join us for a live, virtual event to discuss these results, along with the critical insights you need to understand and address the long-term effects of what can be an emotionally painful experience.

HEALING YEARS OF PAIN: PROLONGED GRIEF AFTER PREGNANCY LOSS

 As part of Life Perspectives’ RESEARCH REVEALS: Guest Lecture Series with researchers:

 Kathryn R. Grauerholz , MSN, NP, ACHPN, Director of Healthcare Programs, Life Perspectives

 Shandeigh “Nikki” Berry , PhD, RN, CNOR, Professor of Nursing, St. Martin’s University

 Rebecca Capuano , MSW, Blue Ridge Women’s Center

 Jillian Early , MSW, LCSW, PMH-C, Private Practice Psychotherapist

Friday, August 13th, 11:00 a.m. Pacific (2:00 p.m. Eastern)

Register here .

 Our new study examines the time lapse between a pregnancy loss and the person’s processing of it through anonymous postings on the Life Perspectives healing websites MiscarriageHurts.com and AbortionChangesYou.com . The live event examines how the emotional impact of pregnancy loss can be felt for years or decades after the loss, especially in cases where grief is disenfranchised, marginalized or unresolved. This event includes the opportunity to interact with these researchers through a Q&A session.

ABOUT THE STUDY

The paper, Uncovering Prolonged Grief Reactions Subsequent to a Reproductive Loss: Implications for the Primary Care Provider , analyzes 164 stories posted anonymously on Life Perspectives’ healing websites MiscarriageHurts.com and AbortionChangesYou.com over a six-month period between November 2019 and May 2020. The stories were reviewed for details regarding the time span between the pregnancy loss and the composition of the blog post, and then analyzed for subsequent relationship problems and detrimental mental health conditions. The study has been published in Frontiers in Psychology.

 -     Frontiers in Psychology , is the largest journal in its field, publishing rigorously peer-reviewed research across the psychological sciences.

 Why Should You Attend?

-     The results of this study are critical to understanding how grief from pregnancy loss can potentially have a lasting and maladaptive impact.

-     This event combines the hard data of scientific analysis with the introspection of researchers who are all certified reproductive grief care instructors.

-     This webinar is vital for any caregiver, supervisor, or healthcare professional caring for patients or clients impacted by reproductive loss. It offers the critical insights you need to understand and address the long-term effects of what can be an emotionally painful experience.

- Life Perspectives is at the forefront of sharing and creating impartial and impactful research to understand the way individuals process reproductive losses, and to establish global standards for offering compassionate care.

- This is an opportunity to personally meet with the healthcare professionals dedicated to this study, and to hear their thoughts on this groundbreaking research. This live webinar also includes an opportunity to interact with these experts through a Q&A session.

FINDINGS

The study found that more than a third (39.6%) of the women reported that at least one year or more had passed since experiencing the pregnancy loss. For those women, the median time span between the loss and composing the anonymous posting was 4 years, with a range as large as 47 years. 

Long-term Impact of Pregnancy Loss

Relationship problems, substance misuse, depression, suicidal ideation, and PTSD were prevalent mental health conditions attributed to the reproductive loss by those who reported longer bereavement times. The percent of reported maladaptive issues was more than double (136.9% vs. 63.6%) for those who reported that a year or more had passed since the loss of the pregnancy.

Grief Screening Tool

“This research illustrates the necessity for healthcare providers to sensitively inquire about a client or patient’s reproductive loss history and screen for maladaptive or prolonged grief reactions,” our CEO added. “To help healthcare providers do this, we’ve created a reproductive grief screening tool.”

The goal of Life Perspectives’ brief grief screening tool is for healthcare providers, as part of the routine healthcare screening process, to bring to light any unresolved issues caused by a prior reproductive loss while mitigating the burden on busy healthcare providers. A reliability and validity study of this screening method is currently underway at a large and prestigious university medical school. Life Perspectives expects to unveil this new grief screening tool to the healthcare community after validation, in 2023.

“As this study shows, there is a critical need for healthcare providers to be equipped with a grief screening tool for reproductive loss,” she added. “Just a few questions, asked kindly and at the right time by medical professionals, may save a patient years of pain and suffering.”

Lead researcher and Director of Life Perspectives’ Healthcare Programs, Kathryn Grauerholz, worked with a team of Life Perspectives Certified Instructors, Dr. Shandeigh “Nikki” Berry, Rebecca Capuano, and Jillian Early, to analyze the postings on MiscarriageHurts.com and AbortionChangesYou.com for this study. Life Perspectives’ certified instructors are trained to work with healthcare professionals and other caregivers to help them to provide the gold standard of care for those impacted by pregnancy loss, especially at the moment when the news of the pregnancy loss is delivered.

For more information, email contact@LifePerspectives.com.