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Miscarriage Mourning Lingers, Even After a Healthy Baby is Born, Study Shows
Filed under: Pregnancy Health, Health, Research Reveals
Sadness from a miscarriage can last a lifetime. Credit: Getty Images
The grief following a miscarriage or stillborn is a loss that can lead to anxiety and depression, but researchers are now discovering the angst can lead to prolonged psychological distress, even after mothers deliver healthy babies.
The findings turn the spotlight on the importance of knowing what to do and what to say when a woman miscarries. Sentiments, such as "At least you have other children," can be hurtful, Time magazine reports.
"We kind of assumed in the academic world that if you have a healthy baby, everything would be fine," Emma Robertson Blackmore, the study's lead researcher and an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center, tells Time.
Almost 80 percent of the estimated U.S. women who endure a miscarriage or stillbirth get pregnant again, the study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry reports. However, nearly 13 percent of the women who have since delivered healthy babies still had symptoms of depression almost three years, or 33 months, after the birth of the new baby.
The pain is magnified for moms who had two previous losses and then gave birth, with 19 percent of those new moms having symptoms of depression within the same almost three-year time span, according to the study.
Researchers tracked 13,133 pregnant women in the United Kingdom who were participating in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. They were screened for depression and anxiety throughout their pregnancy and after giving birth. Most reported no miscarriages, but 21 percent said they had experienced at least one.
Researchers tell Time the findings are significant because physicians should screen women who've lost a pregnancy for postpartum mental problems.
"It's expected that women who've suffered a loss might be more anxious in subsequent pregnancies, especially up until the point at which they lost the pregnancy," Blackmore tells the magazine. "Say you had a miscarriage at 15 weeks. You can imagine until you get to that point, you think, 'Oh, my God, is everything going to be OK?' "
She tells Time researchers had expected the symptoms of depression to decrease once that point was reached. But the numbers continue to spike with the numbers of lost pregnancies.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 2)
3-17-2011 @ 6:52AM
Keith said...is there a study that includes the spouse? My wife and I still mourn the one we lost, 20 years ago.
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3-17-2011 @ 7:12AM
Becky said...I so much agree with the article. I suffered a loss 25 years ago, when I was 20 weeks pregnant and I suffered a placental abruption. I had to go through labor and delivery of her, and I held her for just a second until she passed. Even though I have had 4 beautiful, healthy children, I go through a period of "mourning" still, aeound May 8, when I lost her, Her brothers and sisters know about her, and my parents, I feel, are with her, keeping her safe, until I can be with her again.
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3-17-2011 @ 7:18AM
mj said...EVEN THOUGH I HAVE 3 HEALTHY ADULT CHILDREN, I TOO STILL MOURN THE LOSS OF MY BABY ALMOST 30 YEARS AGO...I MISCARRIED DEC.8TH 1981...YOU NEVER FORGET ..
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3-17-2011 @ 7:49AM
Charlene said...My son would have been 22 years old this year. After his brother was born 2 years after his passing, I tried to join a support group for parents who had lost children at my local Catholic church. The nun who interviewed me, as I held my new infant son in my arms, told me I couldn't join the group because I was to upbeat. She said, and I quote "You already replaced your baby, what good would this group do you?" My outrage still stays with me. How dare this woman, who never had a child, tell me what was in my heart and that I should put that aside because I had a "replacement child." You cannot replace your child, no matter how many may follow. I grieve his loss every day. My family visits him on a regular basis and although we never go to know him, he lives in our hearts forever. I found no compassion at my ex church and no humanity in that nun.
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3-17-2011 @ 7:59AM
michelle said...I have had two miscarriages, one a single and the other twins. These women need to "get over it" and move on... Yes, you can remember but still grieving is crazy... These children were not even born..
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3-17-2011 @ 9:39AM
Donna said...How can you even say such a thing? Do you have any feelings at all? I had two beautiful boys, had a baby boy that was stillborn, and then another beautiful boy two years later. So greatful for my three boys but nothing ever replaces the loss.
3-17-2011 @ 10:48AM
Michele said...I hope that you are not instilling your disregard for the life you carried inside of you on any kids you may be raising. My four children are acutely aware of how much I love them, in part, because they have seen me mourn for their sister who was stillborn 9 years ago. If I had not show emotion and grief for her loss, then they would inevitably question their worth.
3-17-2011 @ 8:00AM
Leslie said...St. Patricks Day is a sad day for me on March 17, 1995 I had a stillborn baby girl at 24 wks. I so wanted a little girl as I had 2 boys and somehow before they told me, just knew it was a girl. I named her Brittany. I went on to have to more boys before I got that healthy girl I so wanted but she does not replace Brittany there is still a huge hold in my heart after all these years, always something feels missing.
Leslie
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3-17-2011 @ 8:09AM
Jack's Mom said...I lost a little boy at 17 weeks in July 2000. I think that it was even harder because I had two healthy girls who really wanted that baby brother. I had my own grief and theirs as well. The next year I had a healthy baby girl and then 7 years later, a healthy boy. Both pregnancies I was convinced that I would lose them as well. We all still think of Jack and imagine that he is in Heaven waiting for us. The loss is still there, it's just hurts less.
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3-17-2011 @ 8:10AM
Betty Wilkerson said...The loss of a baby, whether through miscarriage or after its birth, certainly is mourned. It may be mourned by the baby's entire family. I have never forgotten the little ones my daughter-in-law and granddaughter- in- law miscarried. It is an emptiness, an unfullfilled life.
Having more children does not erase the sense of loss.
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3-17-2011 @ 8:39AM
egg11 said...Thank you for not lumping stillbirth with miscarriage. Yes, they are both painful, but it's different when a woman has to deliver a baby in the maternity ward that she'll never take home and pack the nursery away.
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3-17-2011 @ 9:01AM
cwp said...if a woman has had a miscarriage, no matter how many, she is not able to 'relax' and enjoy the pregnancy, nor allow herself to eagerly anticipate the birth of her child until she hits the phase of pregnancy where the baby would be easily viable if born early. in my pregnancies in the late 70's, early 80's, that point was 7 mos gestation. i so loved being pregnant, but had a deep sadness that i couldn't allow myself to fully enjoy and embrace that state of being for fear it would not last; after all, isn't it one of the most anticipated and profound experience of a woman who wants to have children? it totally makes sense to me that, for these women, depression is more significant and lasting. now....if i didn't have those miscarriages, i'd not have the children i do have, and they are the light of my life. i am blessed that i have an experience that i can share with other women in the hopes it will allow them to remain positive and hopeful that a full term pregnancy can occur after multiple miscarriages.
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3-17-2011 @ 8:58AM
hjnytoni said...Yes, some women feel terrible loss - for years. But articles like this never touch on the fact that others move on with their lives, and make us feel as if there is something "wrong" with us for not feeling terrible. I had 7 miscarriages. I have three wonderful daughters, ages 22, 14 and 9. Life goes on. I don't remember the dates, or grieve for the children I lost. I rejoice in the children I have. Is there anything wrong with that, or me. NO!
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3-17-2011 @ 11:07AM
samantha said...i believe the article didn't mention woman who passed it because most woman try to appear as if they have moved on. i think it is trying to bring attetion to the fact that some people never forget and it is an emotional issue. the only way to truly move on and not be depressed for a significant amount of time, is to allow yourself to feel how you want at that time and not try to act like nothing is wrong.
3-17-2011 @ 11:30AM
Teresa said...Mourning the loss of a child you carried for however long you carried that child by no means diminishes the gratitude and love for children that one may have. Why does it have to be one or the other? What makes mourning the loss wrong and dismising it as inconsequential correct? I have three beautiful children whom I love dearly and are precious to me - but they are no less precious than the son I lost to miscarriage 6 years ago. Mourning doesn't mean you are siting around crying and dwelling on the loss - it means acknowledging the loss, respecting the life you carried as precious and while life continues incorporating those perspectives into your life. It seems to me that the position of mourning and moving on are not mutually exclusive. I mourn the loss of my son as his mother, I celebrate his life - short as it was for what it taught me and I live my life. I visit the cemetary and I teach my children that everyone needs to be respected. My son may have been a fetus by the worlds definition but to me he was what a human being looks like at 13 weeks and no one should judge my feelings toward him as inappropriate - just as I refrain from judging the opposite as cold, callous or indifferent.
3-17-2011 @ 4:08PM
Alicia said...I don't believe that hjnytoni was trying to dismiss the loss some women feel or imply that it's wrong to continue to mourn for years or a lifetime. She is just wondering why the women whose mourning ends sooner are not talked about.
On that note, I think it is because people assume that there doesn't need to be a study about those women because they're healthy or adjusted or maybe they just don't realize they exist. I also don't think moving on and ending mourning is wrong. I think that it is for each person to be honest about their feelings and mourn or move on as they feel fit, so long as they don't judge others for feeling differently (which I don't think you did, though a previous commenter is very much guilty).
3-17-2011 @ 9:03AM
Earwin said...Women look at miscarrage the wrong way. When a child is lost early in the pregnancy it is because of deformaties. I lost 3 before my 2nd trimester. I am not sad, I am glad they are at peace and not here suffering. I agree stillbirth deserves a time of mourning, but even then you need to realize something was terribly wrong with the infant. I will never forget my friends child born with "no brain". How she kept that infant on life support for 6 months and suffered everyday in her grief.
We talk about depression for those who lost a child. What about those who had children with deformaties? I pray for those women and have great respect for them. They were given a special angel to care for in this life.
A miscarrage is sad, but it's not the end of the world or a reason to get depressed. Any loss is sad but we need to keep it in perspective. Do we want the ones we lose to suffer or be at peace?
Also, of course a loss due to an accident or murder is the worst kind of loss-i pray for those families everyday.
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3-17-2011 @ 10:58AM
Michele said...You don't mention that you have suffered a loss either through miscarriage or stillbirth. If this is the case, then you need not judge how others feel. And God forbid any of your children suffer from a disease or accident that makes them "terribly wrong." What would you think then??? FYI...not all babies who are stillborn have something wrong. My daughter, Celeste, was perfect. Edcuate yourself before you make such uninformed, hurtful comments.
3-17-2011 @ 12:11PM
Teresa said...Your comment seems very contradictory. It doesn't make sense that one person's special angel to care for who didn't make it to the ripe old age of 5 (or whatever outside the womb) shouldn't be grieved. Should those mothers with special angels to care for not grieve their children when they loose them? Grief is grief and no one has the right to judge anothers emotions as unnecessary.
Please also keep in mind that you can not assume that all miscarriages are due to a deformity - some are not. It seems very unfair that the clearly minority opinion that states a miscarriage should not be grieved can not respect another individuals differing opinion. If one doesn't feel the need to grieve - that's ones individual perspective - why not respect someone elses differing perspective? Such a position surfaces as an attempt to justify one's lack of emotion.
3-17-2011 @ 9:08AM
Leonard Konopka said...This study has tremendous ramifications in terms of more women than men suffer depression in this country. Further research needs to be done about the effects that the mothers miscarriage has on the following child that is born...is there any anxiety, concern fears etc. that the mother unconscously passes on mentally to the next child she may be carrying. Are these children who are born after the previous child has been miscarried, suffer from the same fears without being aware of the causes? It would be a much needed doctoral study and dissertation that would help families affected by these losses.
This is not done to blame the Mother, it's just that her genuine concern that the next child she is carrying, may similarly be miscarried...so the child in the womb picks up these confusing and misleading emotions that it has to deal with.
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