II. Management: General counseling

  1. Dispel guilt
    1. Nothing patient did caused the Miscarriage
    2. Not due to sex, Exercise, stress, food, minor injury
  2. Acknowledge grief
    1. Feeling sad is appropriate in the death of their baby
    2. Recognize that each parent may express grief differently
    3. Anticipate anniversary grief in subsequent years
  3. Reassure about future pregnancies
    1. Less than 3 Miscarriages does not increase recurrence
    2. No changes are needed with next pregnancy management
      1. Exception: 3 or more Miscarriages or late loss
    3. Do not recommend any lifestyle changes at this time
  4. Keep in contact for support
    1. Phone or office visit within a few days to week
    2. Listening and sharing your own sadness is helpful
  5. Encourage notifying others who knew about the pregnancy
    1. Consider designating a friend to tell others
    2. Children should be told if they knew about pregnancy

III. Precautions: Inappropriate Comments

  1. You can try again
  2. At least it happened early

IV. Resources

  1. Compassionate Friends
    1. http://www.compassionatefriends.org
    2. Phone: 877-969-0010
  2. SHARE Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support
    1. http://www.nationalshareoffice.com
    2. Phone: 800-821-6819

V. References

  1. Deutchman (2000) ALSO Course Syllabus, p. A17-21

Images: Related links to external sites (from Bing)

Related Studies