Women's grief in induced abortion (IA) and later loss of pregnancy: Themes from a narrative literature review with implications for counselling.

Abstract

This article is based on a review of literature on pregnancy losses at later gestational dates. The author, the head of counselling of a counselling team housed within an induced abortion (IA) clinic, undertook the review with the aim of compiling a fact sheet for clients to assist in their grief and loss associated specifically with IA. The research question was specifically exploring whether women's experience of IA during the first trimester of pregnancy differed from women's experiences during the second trimester of pregnancy, and therefore whether services and a resource needed to reflect this. A key theme in the literature reviewed was that loss by a later elective IA increased the likelihood of the parents' experiences of disenfranchised grief. Findings also showed that there were negative impacts to the women's health if grief and loss counselling was not offered. The experiences highlighted in the research literature were identifiable from other losses related to pregnancy caused by premature delivery, neonatal death, spontaneous abortion (miscarriage), and stillbirth. Recommendations for dealing with disenfranchised grief in the context of counselling in a women's IA clinic are explored with implications for assisting women and their partners post IA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of New Zealand Journal of Counselling is the property of New Zealand Association of Counsellors and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)