Perinatal loss and parental loneliness: Narratives of late termination of pregnancy

Abstract

Advances in perinatal medicine, present increasing numbers of women with difficult decisions about their pregnancy. We explored the views of 5 parents and 5 perinatal healthcare professionals regarding late termination of pregnancy following the principles of qualitative content analysis. Parents deciding on whether to (dis)continue pregnancy needed more time and decisional support. Decentralized care and lacking continuity between caregivers led to negative experiences. No standardized bereavement services were offered after leaving the hospital. Integrating principles of perinatal palliative care to care might help to offer further decisional support and to overcome the fragmentation of care.