Miscarriage And Infant Death

I did this research to find out what were the experiences of women who knew they were pregnant and how was their experience coping with such loss. I will interview these women one- on –one, through these interviewed I will assess the positive and negative aspects of this experience. This research is a qualitative study which uses a narrative approach to examine the information obtained from the interview. Ten females between the age 22-25 years old who have had a miscarriage in the first trimester were interviewed for this research. Through this research I have found that women find comfort in having a support system during this process. The participants in this study stated that in their community having a miscarriage comes with a stigma, therefore having a supportive surrounding eased the experience. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists(2016) research reveals that 10-25% of all recognized pregnancies will result in a miscarriage. It is important to explore this topic in order to understand the grieving process of individuals who have suffered from a miscarriage and implement nursing interventions to ensure a better safer outcome for both the female and the family as a whole.

Exposure to second hand smoke, also called involuntary smoking, occurs when non-smokers breathe in the cigarette smoke from others around them. Second hand smoke is harmful to both pregnant women and infants (NTP). Paternal smoking reduces birth weight by about 2 oz. (Berger 115). After birth, babies exposed to cigarette smoke may experience more colds, lung problems, and even ear infections.

According to the Oxford dictionary, "abortion is the expulsion of a fetus from the uterus by natural causes before it is able to survive independently." Abortion has perhaps been a highly politicized over the past several decades. The major political parties in the United States have adopted distinct positions on this issue. When the death a fetus occurs naturally, it is called a miscarriage. When the loss of a fetus is caused intentionally, it is regarded as a significant moral and societal issue that needs to be dealt with. An article on washingtonpost.com stated that, "studies show that there is an imbalance between the number of firearms-related deaths 30,000 a year and abortions performed each year in the United States more than 750,000 a year." This shows that more death occur from abortions that firearms. To better picture what an abortion is, the mental image of a baby covered in blood placed in a basin and chopped into about fifty pieces. This will help understand how cruel and wicked abortion is. I intend to argue that abortion is morally, logically, and religiously wrong. Unless murder becomes legal, abortion should remain illegal.

Experiencing a miscarriage can be a very painful and frustrating time for a man and a woman, especially if this is their first time to have an offspring and they have already seen the scan of their baby. This could be a difficult time and some would not want to try anytime soon because of the fear of losing once again.

Briefing Note for the Minister of Labour to Consider Miscarriage as Eligibility to Existing Disability Benefit Plans

According to the text book Parent-Child Relations: An Introduction to Parenting by Bigner and Gerhardt (2014), miscarriage is the word known for a pregnancy that ends unplanned during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. The reasons why miscarriage happens varies but there is no exact cause and no exact way to tell when and how it can be prevented. Bigner and Gerhardt (2014) also mention that around 10 to15 percent of known pregnancies are miscarriages. This topic is important to discuss because even though 10 to 15 percent of pregnancies seem like a small amount of miscarriages, it is actually a vast majority. Miscarriage is a difficult challenge that both the mother and the father of the unborn fetus have to go through which is why more individuals need to know more about miscarriage. First I will discuss why miscarriage happens and how it can be preventable. Next, I will discuss the impacts of miscarriage on both the mother and the father. Lastly, I will discuss how parents can cope with the loss of their unborn fetus.

Miscarriage is a term used for a pregnancy that ends on its own. Miscarriage is the most common type of pregnancy loss and usually happens during the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. About one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage, and there are many reasons this happens to pregnant women.

The loss of a child is not comprehendible; however, many families experience child loss due to spontaneous abortions. Kjaesgaard et al. (2013) defined spontaneous abortion as a miscarriage occurring within the first 22 weeks of gestation, the time between a mothers last menstrual cycle and birth. They also asserted that spontaneous abortions occur in approximately one out of four women (p. 1). Miscarriages are considered recurrent when women experienced more than three spontaneous abortions (Medscape). Mothers are exposed to extraordinary pain and possibly depression following a spontaneous abortion. Although spontaneous abortions have occurred for many years, doctors and researchers question the primary cause of miscarriages. Bashour and

Lylia Howard Huntly s. is the author that I have chosen to write about. This authors poem “Death of an Infant” is a part of her first set of writings that where published. This poem is a convenient piece to analyze, because the point of view that is being portrayed by the author can also relate to the readers.

Babies born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy are vulnerable and more prone to suffer from various allergies such as ear infections, lung infections and asthma. Passive smoking is also very harmful for pregnant woman and they should try and keep themselves away from any kind of smoke. Also, one must remember that there is no ‘safe’ level of smoking. Be it a pack or just one cigarette, your baby is going to be affected adversely.

Pregnancy is one of the most cherished periods of a woman’s life, but often this joy is very short-lived due to certain complications and at times, due to our own actions. If a woman loses her unborn baby in the very early stages of pregnancy, i.e. within the first 20 weeks, it is termed as a miscarriage. At times, a spontaneous abortion or a miscarriage is caused due to unavoidable reasons such as:

The importance of providing support for women who have a history of miscarriage has increased in the last decade, not only during the following months after the loss, if not in their subsequent pregnancies. Consequently, it is increasingly recognized that having previous miscarriage can be related with psychological and mental health disorders in their next pregnancies (Lok I.H, 2007; Hutti, Armstrong & Myers, 2011). Also, it is well-documented that women who have a history of miscarriage show higher levels of anxiety and depression in their subsequent pregnancies (Cote-Arsenault, 2014; Bergner A, 2008; Cote-Arsenault, 2007; Armstrong DS, 2004; Amstrong, 2002; Cote-arsenault & Dombeck, 2001; Geller, Klier, & Neugebauer, 2001; Gong X, 2013).

Smoking while pregnant is a known teratogen. For those who don’t know, a teratogen is an agent or factor that causes malformation of an embryo. Smoking is very bad for a baby’s health before and after your baby is born. Many people don’t understand the importance of this, nor do they understand that not only does an unborn child get the smoke, but all the chemicals in a cigarette as well. Cigarettes contain more than 4,000 chemicals, like nicotine, cyanide, lead, carbon monoxide, and tar. Not to mention at least 60 cancer causing chemicals. 20-30% of low birth weight babies, 14% premature labors, and 10% of infant deaths are caused from smoking during pregnancy according to American Lung Association. Smoking increases the risk of pregnancy complications at any and every stage of a pregnancy. Second hand and third hand smoke is just as bad if not worse for an unborn child and yourself as first hand smoke is.

According to London et al. (2014), stillbirth is defined as the “death of a fetus or infant from the time of conception through the end of the newborn period 28 days after birth” (p. 481). In 2011, in the country of Taiwan, there were a total of 2,321 stillborn births and it was reported that 60% of the women who experienced this loss suffered from severe postpartum depression within 4 years (Tseng, Chen, & Wang, 2014, p. 219). Although it is known that the mothers of these infants suffer with traumatic stress, follow-ups after stillbirths are rare and there is no community support groups available. There is not much information available on the experience of Taiwanese women who experience a stillbirth nor is there information about the steps taken by these women to recover from their loss. Thus, this study seeks to understand the experiences of these Taiwanese women who have experienced the loss of an infant and how they cope within their society (Tseng et al., 2014, p. 219).

Smoking starts causing harm, even to the unborn. A mother is a baby`s only form of life support through the umbilical cord. So,