Morte perinatal, luto materno e assistência de enfermagem: uma revisão integrativa.

Abstract

The bereavement resulting from perinatal loss is complex and experienced differently by each individual, becoming even more challenging due to the inversion of life expectancy and the disruption of the natural order of things. The present study is an integrative literature review that collects bibliographic data analyzing the experience of authors during their studies regarding the conception of perinatal death, maternal grief, and nursing care from the perspective of families and healthcare professionals. It starts from the assumption of the following guiding question: what are the conceptions regarding perinatal death, grief, and nursing care in the light of the integrative review? The data collection took place between March and May 2023, it was carried out in the databases Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Scientific Electronic Library Online (SCIELO), Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (LILACS) e Bases de Dados de Enfermagem (BDENF). To this end, the Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS/MeSH) were used, namely: morte perinatal, luto, família, perinatal death, bereavement and family, performing the crossing in the databases with the aid of the Boolean operator “AND” , which resulted in 28 publications, which were selected based on eligibility criteria, resulting in a final sample of 8 articles. Different points were identified, highlighted by mothers, family members, and healthcare professionals during perinatal loss, enabling a discussion of this sentiment. For mothers, perinatal loss implies not only the loss of a child but also the loss of identity and a part of themselves, potentially leading to social isolation and psychological suffering, impacting their relationships with the family. Coping with perinatal death is a challenge for healthcare professionals, particularly for nurses who play an important role in identifying maternal grief and providing support to women in the recovery process and prevention of mental health problems. Specialized assistance can assist in the reconstruction of the family and social support. With this, it was observed that the study allowed to know the reality of families that go through perinatal loss, as well as to identify the fragility of the preparation of the Nursing team towards this population and the imminent need for nurses who have in their training the understanding of the process of death and mourning.