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Miscarriage: Mother's Worst Nightmare-Selene

This document discusses the grief process for mothers who lose a child at different stages of life. It describes how a miscarriage affects around 25% of women and can cause feelings of loss over hopes and dreams. For neonatal deaths within the first month of birth, mothers feel love for the child they were able to hold but lost. Childhood deaths after several years of raising a child are particularly difficult for mothers who cannot picture life without the child they cared for daily. Grief symptoms like guilt and "what if" thoughts apply to losses at all stages of a child's life.

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84 views5 pages

Miscarriage: Mother's Worst Nightmare-Selene

This document discusses the grief process for mothers who lose a child at different stages of life. It describes how a miscarriage affects around 25% of women and can cause feelings of loss over hopes and dreams. For neonatal deaths within the first month of birth, mothers feel love for the child they were able to hold but lost. Childhood deaths after several years of raising a child are particularly difficult for mothers who cannot picture life without the child they cared for daily. Grief symptoms like guilt and "what if" thoughts apply to losses at all stages of a child's life.

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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Mothers Worst Nightmare- Selene

No parent should ever have to bury their child.

When someone loses a loved one, they go through a stage of grief. Now, what is grief? Grief
is a deep sorrow caused by the death of someone they loved. Some symptoms of grief
include; crying, guilt, isolating yourself, anger, hopelessness/helplessness, among many
others. When a person loses a loved one, they go through a grief process which includes
shock and denial, anger and guilt, depression/loneliness & acceptance and hope. As you can
see, the symptoms and process of grief are really similar to each other. I am going to be
talking to you about what it is like for parents that lose their child during different stages in
life (Miscarriage, neonatal, and childhood).

Miscarriage

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A miscarriage is something that unfortunately is quite common affecting around 25% of


women that become pregnant. The majority of that 25% of women were not aware that they

were pregnant.Symptoms of a miscarriage include cramping, pelvic pain, abdominal pain,


heavy bleeding, among many other. Spotting is not always a sign of a miscarriage but it is
best if the women gets checked. About 15% of women that went through a miscarriage
experienced anxiety or depression. Women who have a miscarriage lose their hopes and
dreams for the future. Depending on what that pregnancy meant to the mother, the
miscarriage may affect them in different ways. If the mother had been trying to get pregnant
for a long time, the miscarriage is going to hurt more. Most women that have been through a
miscarriage are scared to get pregnant again because they fear that the same thing is going to
occur again. There are different views on a miscarriage; some people believe that a
miscarriage is not considered a death because the fetus is not fully developed to be a baby.
Women who have an early miscarriage are less likely to get anxiety or depression.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db169.htm

Neonatal

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A neonatal death is when a newborn child dies during his/her first 28 days of being
born. Unlike a miscarriage, neonatal death is more traumatic for the mother because they fell
in love with the baby, and they were able to hold him or her in their arms. Because the mother
was only able to hold the baby for such a short amount of time, it is harder for them to accept
and overcome the death of their child. It is also harder for these mothers because they have to
go through the process of burying their child. Mothers who go through a neonatal death are
more likely to get depression. They might cry every single day and not be able to talk about
the situation with anyone. Seeing pregnant or nursing mothers can be extremely difficult for
these women. These women are usually filled with what if statements, making it harder for
them to accept the death of their child. The only time when a mother might not grieve as
much over their newborn childs death is if the baby had a chronic disease and they knew
how much the baby was suffering. Neonatal deaths decreased by 47% since 1990 from 36 to
19 deaths per 1,000 births. Click here to see a graph of neonatal death rates in the US.

Childhood

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Unlike neonatal deaths, a childhood death may be much harder on the mother because
she has raised him/her for several years. With having spent so much time close to her child,
she cant picture her life without them because of how much time they spent together and
how much love they showed towards each other. Similarly to mothers who went through a
neonatal death, mothers who go through a childhood death can also be filled with what if
statements. These mothers might feel guilty and blame themselves for what occurred.
Although all mothers grieve with the loss of their child, unlike mothers who undergo neonatal
death, mothers whose child had a chronic disease will grieve more because all they did was
take care of their child and now she doesnt have him or her to take care of, and that may
have been the only thing the mother did everyday. The death rates for children ages 1-4 is
25.5 per every 100,000 of the population. For children ages 5-14, the death rate is 13 per
every 100,000 of the population.

Resources
Bluethmann, Jacquie Goetz. "Losing a Child: A Parent's Worst Nightmare - Metro Parent." Metro Parent. N.p.,
08 Jan. 2015. Web. 02 Aug. 2016. <http://www.metroparent.com/daily/parenting/parenting-issues-tips/losingchild-parents-worst-nightmare/>.

Leis-Newman, Elizabeth. "Miscarriage and Loss." American Psychological Association. N.p., June 2012.
Web. 02 Aug. 2016. <http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/06/miscarriage.aspx>.
Weiss, Margo F., PhD. "Grieving the Loss of A Child." American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2016.
<https://www.aamft.org/iMIS15/AAMFT/Content/consumer_updates/grieving_the_loss_of_a_child.aspx>.
Smith, Melinda, M.A, and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D. "Coping with Grief and Loss." Help Guide. N.p., July 2016.
Web. 02 Aug. 2016. <http://www.helpguide.org/articles/grief-loss/coping-with-grief-and-loss.htm>.
"Grief Counseling." Postpartum Depression. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Aug. 2016. <http://www.fourthtrimester.com/griefcounseling.html>.
"After a Miscarriage: Surviving Emotionally." American Pregnancy Association. N.p., 25 Apr. 2012. Web. 03
Aug. 2016. <http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-loss/miscarriage-surviving-emotionally/>.
Death of a Child. N.p.: Burns & Oates, 1962. Web. 3 Aug. 2016.
<https://www.ndhealth.gov/sids/Publications/TheGrief%20of%20the%20Parents%20ALifetimeJourney.pdf>.

"DEFINITION OF INDICATORS." UNICEF STATISTICS. N.p., Mar. 2016. Web. 03 Aug. 2016.
<http://data.unicef.org/child-mortality/neonatal.html>.
"Child Health." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 03 Aug. 2016. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/childhealth.htm>.

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