Perinatal Grief and Related Factors After Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Anomaly: One-Year Follow-up Study

INTRODUCTION: Many people grieve in a resilient manner, often having a sense of equilibrium restored within six months. The most devastating type of loss is usually considered to be the death of the child. For such a loss, bereavement may take a period of distressing years with signs and symptoms that are related to grief. There have been different phases identified in the grieving process, and this process encompasses various difficulties with different levels of psychological effects. Women with perinatal losses can suffer long periods of grief. The purpose of this study was to monitor the grief in women who had undergone a termination of pregnancy due to fetal anomaly. METHODS: Forty-six women who applied to the Gynaecology Clinic of Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine and who decided to terminate their pregnancy due to fetal anomaly were included in the study. The Perinatal Grief Scale (PGS), the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the Multidimensional Relationship Questionnaire (MRQ) and the Adult Attachment Scale (AAS) were administered to the participants six weeks after termination. Participants’ grief signs were re-evaluated with the PGS at the sixth and 12th months. RESULTS: There was no relationship between severity of grief symptoms and socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients. The perinatal grief symptoms can decrease gradually from termination of pregnancy to six months and can persist for a period of six months up to a year. There was positive correlation between the scores of PGS and BAI, IES-R hyper-arousal. The mean score of PGS changed significantly from sixth week to sixth month and from sixth week to 12th months. IES-R hyper-arousal and MRQ relational satisfaction were found to be the predictors for PGS total score at the first year. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of fetal anomaly and especially the termination of pregnancy itself may be traumatic and disruptive. In women with perinatal loss, grief may become persistent after the first six months. It would be helpful to examine how the women resolve this experience. Especially the anxiety and the hyper-arousal signs following the termination should not be ignored. Perinatal grief is a unique bereavement experience; specific interventions should be performed for detecting and treating severe perinatal grief.