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Review
. 2012 Jun;14(2):187-94.
doi: 10.31887/DCNS.2012.14.2/akersting.

Complicated grief after perinatal loss

Anette Kersting  1 , Birgit Wagner
Affiliations
Review

Complicated grief after perinatal loss

Anette Kersting et al. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2012 Jun.

Abstract
in English, Spanish, French

The loss of an infant through stillbirth, miscarriage, or neonatal death is recognized as a traumatic life event. Predictors of development of complicated grief after prenatal loss include lack of social support, pre-existing relationship difficulties, or absence of surviving children, as well as ambivalent attitudes or heightened perception of the reality of the pregnancy. Risk of complicated grief was found to be especially high after termination of a pregnancy due to fetal abnormality. Studies have revealed that men and women show different patterns of grief, potentially exacerbating decline in a relationship. Although it is clear that prenatal loss has a large psychological impact, it is concluded that there is a substantial lack of randomized controlled studies in this field of research.

La pérdida de un bebé por muerte fetal, aborto o muerte neonatal se reconoce como un acontecimienio vital traumático, Entre los predictores del desarrollo de un duelo complicado después de la pérdida prenatal están la falta de soporte social, las dificultades en las relaciones pre-existentes o la ausencia de niños vivos, como también las actiiudes ambivalentes o la percepción exagerada de la realidad del embarazo. Se ha encontrado que el riesgo de un duelo complicado es especialmente elevado después del término de un embarazo debido a una anormalidad fetal. Los estudios han mostrado que hombres y mujeres muestran patrones distintos de duelo, los que potencialmente aumentan el deterioro de la relatión de pareja, Aunque es claro que la pérdida prenatal tiene un gran impacto psicológico, se concluye que existe una ausencía importante de estudios controlados randomizados en este campo de investigación.

La perte d'un enfant mort-né ou par avortement spontané ou mort néonatale est un événement de vie traumatisant. Les facteurs prédictifs d'un deuil compliqué après une telle perte sont l'absence de support social, des antécédents de difficultés relationnelles, l'absence d'enfant vivant ainsi que des attitudes ambivalentes ou une perception aiguë de la réalité de la grossesse. Le risque de deuil compliqué est particulièrement élevé après l'interruption d'une grossesse pour anomalie du fœtus. Des études ont montré différents schémas de réaction psychologique de deuil pour les hommes et les femmes, ce qui peut aggraver une dégradation de leur relation. L'impact psychologique d'une perte prénatale est important, pourtant des études randomisées contrôlées manquent considérablement dans ce domaine de recherche.

Keywords: bereavement; complicated grief; depression; loss of pregnancy; miscarriage; neonatal loss; perinatal loss; prenatal loss; stillbirth; termination of pregnancy.

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