Psychological impact of stillbirths on obstetricians

Abstract

Objective: To assess the psychological impact on US obstetricians when they care for women who have suffered a stillbirth and explore whether demographic (e.g. age, gender) and practice (e.g. number of patients, practice type) variables were related to the extent of psychological impact for obstetricians following stillbirth.

Methods: Using a questionnaire that could be completed in about 20 min, we surveyed 1000 American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) members. Physicians were asked about how stillbirths have affected them personally.

Results: Half of those surveyed responded (499) and of those 365 currently practiced obstetrics. Virtually all obstetricians have looked after women who have had a stillbirth. Grief was the most common reaction experienced with 53.7% reporting that they personally “very much” experienced grief. Other common and significant reactions were self-doubt (17.2%), depression (16.9%) and self-blame (16.4%). Significant psychological impact on the obstetrician was associated with older age, solo practice, higher volume practices and higher proportion of Medicaid patients; gender was not found to be associated with psychological impact when controlling for age. Further, greater self-reported performance and training regarding maternal and family counseling, management of stillbirth, and knowledge of stillbirth evaluation was associated with greater levels of grief.

Conclusion: Physician grief is a common reaction among obstetricians after caring for a patient who has had a stillbirth.

• Physician grief
• psychological impact
• obstetrician
• reactions
• stillbirth

Notes

¹PTSD: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder that can occur following a traumatic event; symptoms include re-experiencing the event (e.g. intrusive unwanted memories), avoidance (e.g. avoiding reminders of the event) and arousal (e.g. exaggerated startle response).