Miscarriage: A Case Study

4.1 Introduction
The focus of this study was to explore the experiences of mothers and fathers bereaved by Second Trimester Miscarriage most specifically focusing on their experiences of hospital care. The key findings from the study are presented in Chapter four, thematic analysis (Attride-Sterling, 2001) was employed to analysis the data and thematic networks were designed to represent the two global themes of clinical care needs and relational and social experiences of miscarriage which emerged from the data. The first section of the chapter outlines a brief description of the overall recruitment and response rate, and the demographic/clinical information related to the mothers who participated in the study. This is followed by a presentation

The mean gestation age was 16.88 weeks (SD= 1.36). Five of the mothers had one or more children before the miscarriage and three mothers had a healthy baby after the miscarriage. Six of the women were induced after the diagnosis of fetal demise and three women labored spontaneously. See Table 4.2 for information regarding the birth details for each parent interviewed. Mothers were interviewed from seven to twenty three months following the miscarriage (mean = 14.44 months, SD = 5.17). In order to maintain confidentiality all parents were allocated a pseudonym and referred to by their pseudonym throughout the

This first global theme highlights parents’ experiences in relation to the medical care received by mothers during a second trimester miscarriage. Parents discussed their experiences of medical treatments received by the mother, pain relief, length of hospital stay, going home to prepare for the birth and follow up. This theme describes parents’ experiences of the hospital facilities both for mothers and fathers, the importance of being separate from other pregnant women and babies. Mothers and fathers also highlighted the need for clear information regarding their pregnancy, the medical care they received and the cause of the miscarriage.See Figure 4.4.1 for an outline of this first global