Clinical Experiences of Perinatal Palliative Care After a Stillbirth: A Narrative Therapy for Grief

Abstract

Narrative care for families suffering from perinatal loss is rarely provided by medical institutions in China Mainland. However, with the advancement of the Chinese narrative medicine theory and practice, the clinical significance of narrative care has been increasingly recognized. Based on the principles of Chinese narrative medicine, this narrative case study described traumatic narrative foreclosures occuring in a family suffering from stillbirth, and highlighted the multidisciplinary collaboration for practising narrative care in the process of supporting the bereaved in our hospital. Meanwhile, we advocate the establishment of a narrative care ecology by training more obsteticians and nurses with good narrative competence in purpose of helping the family experiencing perinatal losses to overcome their tramatic narrative foreclosures, increasing the chances of another successful pregnancy and childbirth as well as enhancing their quality of life.