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QUESTION: How do parents of infants who die in the perinatal period experience interactions with social institutions related to the death?
Design
Qualitative analysis of narratives from interviews.
Setting
Interviews were conducted in 2 large cities, a small town, and several rural communities in 2 provinces in Canada.
Participants
Parents (16 women and 6 men) who had lost an infant at ≥20 weeks gestational age were recruited through a newspaper advertisement and from 2 bereavement support groups. 16 infants were stillborn, 5 lived for a few hours, and 1 lived for 7.5 days.
Methods
Semistructured interviews were usually held in the participants' homes. Parents described their interactions with healthcare providers, social workers, funeral directors, insurance agents, clergy, family, and friends. Analysis was both inductive and deductive; data were coded using Rando's model of complicated mourning.
Main findings
Findings revealed an informal social …
Footnotes
Source of funding: no external funding.
For correspondence: Dr C Malacrida, University of Alberta, Department of Sociology, 5–21 H M Tory Building, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H4, Canada. Fax +1 780 492 7196.