He wahine tangi tikapa1…: statutory investigative processes and the grieving of Maori families who have lost a baby to SIDS

Abstract

Among Maori families, the loss of an infant to SIDS is a terrible burden that reverberates through social networks for years after the event. The statutory services that investigate the death have a huge impact on such processes. This qualitative investigation studied the experiences of whanau following a SIDS death by reporting narrative data, gathered from families, police officers, coroners, and pathologists. Thematic analyses revealed multiple domains of high significance—police actions, post‐mortem, and coronial process—to bereaved whanau, and this paper considers their implications for grieving, service provision, and social justice.