Representations about emotional reactions to perinatal loss

¹ Russian Christian Humanitarian Academy, Fontanka riv. embankment, 15, St. Petersburg, 191011, Russia
² Don State Technical University, Gagarin sq. 1, Rostov- on-Don, 344003, Russia

^* Corresponding author: Lev195197@gmail.com

Abstract

Perinatal loss refers to a traumatic event that has a significant impact on the mental health of a woman. Perinatal loss is a complicated emotional ordeal for both the woman and her family. Women who have lost a child during pregnancy or after childbirth have practically no direct life experience of communicating with an infant, while grief in the context of perinatal loss does not significantly differ in intensity from another type of loss. This article describes the results of a research on the representations regarding emotional reactions while experiencing perinatal loss during pregnancy and after birth. The study involved 84 people, aged 19 to 61 (47% men). The authors’ questionnaire and statistical methods were used (descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney test, Wilcoxon Test, and χ²-test). It was established that the representations about the situations that can be attributed to perinatal loss and types of assistance are different for men and women who have the experience of perinatal loss and those who do not; the differences are observed in the assessments of emotional experiences during the loss of a fetus and the loss of a newborn for men and women who have the experience of perinatal loss, and those who do not; men and women may have differences in assessing emotional experiences in the situation of losing a fetus during pregnancy or losing a newborn. The perspectives of the research are the study of factors influencing the loss and distortion of the image of the physical I for women who have experienced perinatal loss.