Women's experiences of early miscarriage: implications for nursing care

Abstract

Aims and objectives: To investigate women's experience of early miscarriage (the first 16 weeks of pregnancy) by reviewing the literature since 1990, identifying and exploring critical themes.

Background: Early miscarriage loss accounts for 50,000 inpatient admissions per year in the UK reported in 2010. It can result in anxiety, depression, guilt, emptiness and other features of bereavement.

Design: A structured literature review of qualitative literature was undertaken to explore the evidence of women's experience of early miscarriage, and elicit common themes emerging.

Methods: A systematic electronic database search was conducted using a range of search engines. Nine papers were identified; four from the UK and one paper each from the USA, Australia, Canada, Israel and Sweden.

Results: Four predominant themes were identified from the experiences of 211 women in the nine studies: 'What I feel', 'Care for me and communicate with me', 'Me, my baby and others' and 'Help me to cope with the future'.

Conclusions: Early miscarriage is a potentially devastating experience, and the diversity of experiences of women must be reflected in the provision of appropriate and sensitive nursing care.

Relevance to clinical practice: The study demonstrated a significant training need for nurses and midwives to provide women with individualised care.

Keywords: aftercare; anxiety; depression; early miscarriage; pregnancy loss; women's feelings.