It is a great empty: reports of women who have experienced fetal death during pregnancy

Abstract

The objective of this article is to discuss emotional experiences of women who had fetal loss after twenty weeks of pregnancy, collected in field research. We used the clinical-qualitative method. The construction of the subject sample was intentional and closed by the information saturation criterion. We used the semistructured interview technique of open-ended questions with five women. Data treatment included: transcription of the interviews, free-floating readings and categorization in topics through content analysis. From qualitative analysis, four categories emerged: 1) "I received the news of the loss ..."; 2) "My son was born dead ..."; 3) "Why me?"; 4) "I feel so ...". It is identified the need to ensure that mothers and families to enter the perinatal grief process that will reflect on minimizing psychological damage. It should be prioritized a support by the health team involved, that considers the woman since the moment which is given to death news.

Keywords

• Morte fetal, luto, Bem-Estar Materno, Serviços de Saúde Materna, Pesquisa Qualitativa