Bereavement after miscarriage: Implications for pastoral care.

This thesis explores the dilemma women experience when they have a miscarriage. The tension between their perception of its significance and the perception of those around them, create difficulties for them as they attempt to integrate the event into their life-pattern. The social and psychological setting for miscarriage, the dynamics of perinatal bereavement, and models of care are reviewed. The theological and philosophical background of dualistic attitudes towards women and their bodies is examined in the work of traditional and feminist theologians. An examination of the results of interviews with twenty women who had miscarried within the previous four years shows dramatically the tension and difficulties with integration. Some main factors that lead to a measure of integration are explained. The implications for pastoral care, based on the previous information and an analysis of pastoral care theory as it relates to bereavement, produces several concrete suggestions for changes in the type of pastoral care women who miscarry receive.Dept. of Religious Studies. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1990 .M225. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 30-03, page: 0499. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1990