Men’s Experience of Miscarriage: Coping with the Loss of a Life and Future

Miscarriage is often viewed as a medical issue associated with women. When going through a miscarriage, healthcare professionals, family, friends, and others in the community tend to turn all their attention to women and leave men feeling left out, isolated, and unsupported. This qualitative research study is being conducted to gain an understanding of what men experience during and after miscarriage, how they cope with the loss, and what can be done to better assist with the loss. Through this research, we will gain a better understanding of the experience surrounding miscarriage for men in an online setting who are unable or uncomfortable discussing the loss in person. A questionnaire will be distributed to ten men who have stated that their wives have experienced a pregnancy loss. The questionnaire will consist of questions surrounding the coping mechanisms utilized and what they experienced as men throughout the loss. The literature indicates that men are not treated and supported the same way as women in the hospital setting and that men are expected to place their needs and feelings to the side after the miscarriage, so they are able to tend to their wives. This in turn creates an environment where men are left with no support and with reckless coping mechanisms. Men feel that it is frowned upon for them to express their grief and feel that their future as fathers is in danger. There is also a need for more education surrounding miscarriage. As miscarriage becomes more common, education is needed, as those who are experiencing or have experienced miscarriage did not know the risks or commonality of miscarriage before it occurred