The effect of an intervention based on the Warden\'s principles on the level of grief in mothers with pregnancy loss

Abstract

Background and Aim: Grief counseling in the parents with pregnancy loss can lead to feelings of support and security when experiencing painful feelings and can pave the way for completing the grief process. The present study aimed to determine the effect of an intervention based on Warden's principles on the severity of grief in the mothers with pregnancy loss. Material and Methods: In this clinical trial we used availability sampling method and 100 mothers who had lost their pregnancy in Urmia in 2018 were entered into the study. The participants were divided into intervention and control groups by randomized block design. The intervention group attended 6 sessions of intervention based on Warden's counseling principles and the control group received usual care. Data were collected using Perinatal Grief Scale in two stages (pre-test and post-test) and were introduced into SPSS-22 software. Chi-square, Fisher exact test, paired t-test and independent t-test were used for data analysis. Significance level was considered less than 0.05. Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups in regard to the mean scores of total Perinatal Grief Scale and all of its different aspects before intervention. But the results of the Post-test of the intervention group revealed a significantly lower score compared to the scores of the control group and also pretest scores of the intervention group. Conclusion: Intervention based on Warden's counseling principles in women with early and late pregnancy loss reduces the severity of mourning and relieves its symptoms more rapidly and can facilitate the process of adjustment in these mothers.

Keywords

• counseling
• grief
• pregnancy loss
• warden's principles