Finding Ways for Couples to Heal After a Miscarriage |
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 Suffering a miscarriage is a painful experience for any couple, but a new study indicates that women and men may be best able to resolve their loss if they undergo couple-focused nurse-led counseling sessions. Study director Kristen M. Swanson, RN, PhD, FAAN, dean of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, found that if couples do not openly process their feelings following a miscarriage then they're more likely to experience decreased emotional and physical intimacy. To determine how couples can work together and find ways to cope with the grief, Swanson compared three different types of counseling sessions within 12 weeks of miscarrying. One group received three face-to-face counseling sessions with a nurse; another group was provided with video and workbook modules; and a third group combined one nurse-led session with three self-caring modules. Result: The nurse-led counseling sessions were the most effective way to support the couple as a unit, said Swanson. “During the study, I found that, while men and women both experience sadness after a pregnancy loss, they are, most often, grieving over different things – while women typically mourn the loss of an unborn child, their husband or partner is more likely to mourn the loss of the relationship he had with the woman as she withdraws into her sadness,” she said. “But even though couples tend to feel distraught over separate aspects of the pregnancy loss, we found that both individuals responded most favorably to an intervention that involved three hour-long counseling sessions with a nurse.” |
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