Pilot Study of a Bereavement Referral Program for Parents Following Perinatal Death.

Abstract

Following a perinatal death, parents experience physical, psychological, social, and spiritual hardships, and may benefit from community-based support. Study a new Bereavement Referral Program (BRP) that connects parents to community-based resources after perinatal death and describe families' utilization of bereavement resources by exploring the BRP use, feasibility of obtaining parent feedback about the BRP, parent grief, and practical resource use and outcomes after perinatal death, and parent feedback about the BRP. A single-site, mixed-methods, prospective study of a BRP involving an academic women's hospital, a community-based organization, and an academic children's hospital. We identified eligible parents using electronic health records and tracked BRP use. We surveyed and interviewed eligible parents (mother and partner, if the partner was identified by the mother) six months after the perinatal death. Of 121 eligible mothers, 19 (15.7%) used the BRP. Thirty-five mothers (28.9%, 35/121) completed a survey, 8 of whom (23%, 8/35) also completed an interview. All 3 partners identified (100%, 3/3) completed a survey, and 2 (67%, 2/3) also completed an interview. 87% (33/38) of people surveyed used community-based bereavement resources, and 26% (10/38) used community-based practical resources. Interview themes related to resources used, the value of used resources, barriers to resource use, BRP feedback, and guidance for supporting grieving parents. While implementation and study of the BRP were challenging, our results show parent needs that could potentially be addressed by the BRP. Future research should quantitatively evaluate the BRP impact on self-efficacy and parent outcomes.