MATERNAL ASSIGNMENT OF FETAL PERSONHOOD TO A PREVIOUS PREGNANCY LOSS: RELATIONSHIP TO ANXIETY IN THE CURRENT PREGNANCY

Abstract

The degree of personhood a mother assigns to her dead fetus (i.e., whether she felt she lost a pregnancy or a baby) may help explain the meaning of a perinatal loss and the amount of anxiety experienced in a subsequent pregnancy. This descriptive study of 72 multigravidas with a history of one or two perinatal losses was conducted to understand the relationships between the assignment of fetal personhood and the influence of that assignment on state anxiety and pregnancy anxiety in a subsequent pregnancy. Assignment of personhood was significantly related to pregnancy anxiety and to the gestational age of the first loss but not to state anxiety. Understanding and responding to women's perceptions of perinatal losses and their significance for women may be one way to support them in subsequent pregnancies.