0CKFDUJWF
The objective for this study was to explore women’s perceptions of
and satisfaction with nursing care they received following stillbirth
and neonatal death in villages around a community hospital in
Lilongwe.
.FUIPET
This qualitative, exploratory study through a mixture of purposive
and snowball sampling, recruited 20 women who had lost a child
through stillbirth or neonatal death in the past 2 years. Data were
collected through semi-structured interviews in the privacy of
the homes of the women. All interviews were tape-recorded and
transcribed verbatim and were analyzed using thematic analysis.
3FTVMUT
Almost half of the respondents expressed satisfaction with
the way nurses cared for them after experiencing perinatal loss,
although some felt unable to comment on the quality of care
UHFHLYHG+RZHYHUVHYHUDOEHUHDYHGZRPHQZHUHGLVVDWLVÀHGZLWK
how nurses handled their loss. They noted nurses not providing
attention or explanations and some even attributed the death of
their child to nurses’ neglect.
$PODMVTJPOT
Interventions are needed which foster awareness where nurses
become more sensitive to the mothers’ emotional needs in an
equally sensitive health care system. There is also need for more
research into care provided following perinatal deaths in resourcepoor
settings to increase the evidence-base for informed and
improved care for women who have experienced child loss.
*OUSP