Paper short abstract:

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted within the Dutch maternity care system, I analyzed ways in which communication between patients and medical professionals shapes experiences of parents going through first trimester birth.

Paper long abstract:

Communication constitutes a major part of the experience, when accessing medical care. It is especially important to maintain clear and compassionate communication in vulnerable moments such as first trimester birth which is an unfortunate ending of one in four pregnancies.

Medical care focuses on management of physical symptoms and prevention or resolution of complications resulting from unexpected outcomes. The emotional side of the experience and the influence it might have on the mental health of the parents is often overlooked or comes as a secondary concern.

In my research I focused on understanding how communication influences these extremely powerful experiences and how it might be improved to contribute to better preparedness of the parents and easier grieving process. One of the biggest themes common for most interactions was the lack of compassion from the medical team, and dismissal of the importance of the pregnancy loss based on the gestational age of the fetus. The experiences of grieving parents were exacerbated by the inappropriate vocabulary and extremely medicalised approach from medical professionals, who tend to focus on finding solutions even in situations when the tragic outcome can no longer be fixed. Exploring these experiences and their commonalities will benefit both medical professionals and future patients alike, to navigate the sensitive moments surrounding first trimester births.