Life after loss: Parent bereavement and coping experiences after infant death in the neonatal intensive care unit

Death Stud. 2019;43(5):333-342. doi: 10.1080/07481187.2018.1474285. Epub 2018 Sep 25.

Abstract

The death of an infant in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a profound and unexpected loss for parents that results in a complex process of coping with bereavement. A descriptive qualitative approach was used to explore parent bereavement and coping experiences after infant death in the NICU. The dual process model of coping with bereavement was used as a conceptual framework to help understand how parents cope with grief after infant death. Living with infant death was a process that resulted in major life changes and a process of oscillating among various coping strategies.

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Psychological*
  • Adult
  • Bereavement*
  • Female
  • Grief*
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant Death*
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Intensive Care Units, Neonatal*
  • Male
  • Parents / psychology*