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• Follow up of Bereaved Parents
  Madeleine White
  Published on: 9 January 2022

• Published on: 9 January 2022

  Follow up of Bereaved Parents

  • Madeleine White, Consultant Paediatrician

  Dear Editor,

  I read with interest the paper by McHaffie [1] et al on the follow up of bereaved parents after treatment withdrawal from newborns. They comment how they could find no evidence in the literature to support the recommendations for timing of follow up given by the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society and how bereavement care is largely an "intuitive response". I wish to offer the following comments:...

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  Dear Editor,

  I read with interest the paper by McHaffie [1] et al on the follow up of bereaved parents after treatment withdrawal from newborns. They comment how they could find no evidence in the literature to support the recommendations for timing of follow up given by the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society and how bereavement care is largely an "intuitive response". I wish to offer the following comments:

  In a study by Benfield [2] in 1978 of parental grief following neonatal death 50 mother/father pairs were asked to schedule a follow up appointment at the time of their choosing. The average time of this was 40 days (range 11 to 97 days). The same study found no significant differences in parental grief score if treatment had been withdrawn after discussion with the parents compared with those parents whose baby had died on a ventilator.

  In a Glasgow study in 1984 [3] the parents of 12 babies who had died were interviewed at a mean of 6.3 months after death to establish how death had been handled and what the wishes of bereaved parents were. 10 (83%) wanted a review with a paediatrician and 9 (75%) of the families suggested 5 weeks after death as optimum timing. All parents wished to have a discussion on the risk of recurrence and 10 (83%) wanted a memento. Half of the group would have liked bereavement counselling in their home. Parents stressed the importance of the postmortem result in alleviating questioning and guilt.

  Asking bereaved parents about their needs is important so that guidelines for follow up can be made. McHaffie et al are to be congratulated on their important study.

  Madeleine White
  Consultant Paediatrician

  References

  (1) McHaffie H E, Laing I A, Lloyd D J. Follow up care of bereaved parents after treatment withdrawal from newborns. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed.2001; 84:F125-128
  (2) Benfield D G, Leib S A, Vollman J H. Grief response of parents to neonatal death and parent participation in deciding care. Pediatrics 1978;62:171-177.
  (3) White M P, Reynolds B, Evans T J. Handling of death on special care nurseries and parental grief. Br Med J 1984;289:167-169.

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  Conflict of Interest:
  None declared.

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