Background: Stillbirth loss is a profound experience affecting around 450 families
every year in Sweden.
Method: Two questionnaires, one postal with three
measurements over a two-year period with 55 parents (I), and a web questionnaire
answered by 411 parents (III), five focus groups with a total of 25 parents (II), and
individual face-to-face interviews with 13 bereaved adolescent siblings of a stillborn
baby (IV) constitute the data collection. The qualitative data were analysed with a
content analysis, descriptive statistics were used for the quantitative data. The overall
aim of the thesis was to study the loss of a stillborn baby from the perspective of
parents and siblings.
Results: The parents strived to create an environment in which
siblings are confidently allowed and invited to participate in processes surrounding the
stillbirth. They promoted an understanding of the new and unexpected family situation.
Some parents expressed difficulty in focusing on the needs of siblings during the acute
grief after the loss. Most of the siblings met their stillborn sister or brother. The
meeting was described as natural, enriching and self-evident and as an important
component to create understanding; it attributed identity and personality to the stillborn
baby. When the siblings created memories the baby was acknowledged and took on a
tangible form. Furthermore, parents and siblings expressed feelings of broken
expectations of becoming a larger family. Additionally, being a sister or brother of a
stillborn baby brought up thoughts about the sibling relationship, and whether they
could still identify themselves as big sisters or brothers. Many parents reported the loss
had strengthened their relationship. Some parents and adolescent siblings expressed
that they were grieving alone as well as together with other members of the family.
They developed an inner strength and a trust in each other. For others, expectations of
their own and other family members´ way of grieving could pose a threat to their close
relationship; a lack of understanding for each other´s way to express grief or their
needs could create an emotional distance. Some adolescents expressed feelings of
being part of a common grief in the family, but simultaneously being outside. The loss
of their baby sibling implied a temporary loss of their parents´ parenthood.clusions: This thesis gives new information on the thoughts and feelings in a
family after they have experienced a stillbirth. Clinically the information can be used
to help health-care professionals communicate with parents and siblings after this
event. For parents seeking advice, it may help to know that the parents in this study,
who actively involved the stillborn baby’s siblings in the meeting and farewell
afterwards, by and large reported encouraging experiences only
