Impact of a Neonatal-Bereavement-Support DVD on Grief

Overview

Experts agree that neonatal death has long-term impact on parents. Many parents experience sadness, pain, anger, bouts of crying, and a depressed mood after the death of a child. There are no prospective studies that evaluate the effectiveness of bereavement management and follow-up on the grief process following the death of a newborn. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) bereavement support program and the use of a newly designed family-centered bereavement DVD. This educational DVD includes personal interviews with parents, grandparents and siblings who have experienced the lost of a baby in the NICU.

The care given to a family before and following a neonatal loss can set the stage for a family's entire grieving process. For many parents, the support they receive from health care providers after the loss of a baby may have crucial effects on the family's ability to appropriately respond. It is essential for nurses, practitioners, physicians, and chaplains to provide compassionate care that meets or exceeds parents' expectations. However, supporting families following the death of an infant is particularly challenging. There is limited bereavement intervention guidance in the literature that may benefit grieving parents. Follow-up care is a crucial part of bereavement management of families whose babies have died. The bereavement committee at St. Louis Children's Hospital (SLCH) is a multi-disciplinary team, which includes representation from neonatal nurses and nurse practitioners, neonatologists, social workers, chaplains, patient-care associates, and former bereaved parents. Their role is to assist families both at the time of an infant's death and in securing their baby's personal belongings after the family leaves the hospital. In addition to receiving bereavement materials, which is considered standard-practice of care in the NICU at SLCH following the death of an infant, half of the parents enrolled in the study will be prospectively randomized to receive the educational bereavement DVD entitled 'Grieving in the NICU- Mending Broken Hearts When a Baby Dies Too Soon'.