Perinatal loss from the perspective of midwives

This bachelor's thesis deals with a perinatal loss from the view of a midwife. The perinatal loss is defined as an antenatal death of fetus between 22nd week of pregnancy until child delivery. This thesis is focused on the care of a midwife for a woman with a dead fetus from the time of the diagnosis to the delivery, during the puerperium and then in outpatient care. The goal of the thesis was to find out the care for woman with perinatal loss by midwives and the possibility for mothers to say goodbye after the birth of a dead fetus in selected Czech maternity hospitals. The research was conducted based on a qualitative analysis with using of semi-structured interviews. The research sample was represented by nine of midwives from six selected Czech maternity hospitals. The interviews were recorded, analyzed via the pencil-paper-method with permission of the respondents. The results were divided into two categories and related subcategories. The first research question dealt with how midwives care for a woman with perinatal loss. The research shows that midwife care is not neglected in selected maternity hospitals. The midwives, within their possibilities and knowledge, are trying to make support for women in this mentally difficult situation and to minimize trauma from loss of her child. The second research question dealt with how women can say goodbye after stillbirth in selected Czech maternity hospitals. In all facilities, parents and other family members are allowed to say goodbye to their child, cradle, care, make a photo or video. Making of memories materials is not standard in all maternity hospitals. In order to standardize the care for a woman with perinatal loss and become quality and accessible care for all concerned, there is a need to develop a unified concept of procedures and ensure the training of a sufficient number of midwives in this area. An information brochure for midwives is the output of the theoretical part of this thesis. This brochure contains elementary points of care, which midwife should not leave out during the care for woman with dead fetus. Based on the results of the research, it would be appropriate to implement a seminar for midwives. The goal of the seminar would not be only providing of expert knowledge, but also to inspire of midwives for self-reflection, to open a discussion about personal experiences and feels of midwives during the care of parents with prenatal loss. Key word