Women's experiences of miscarriage related to diagnosis, duration, and type of treatment

Abstract

Introduction: Women with miscarriage experience several negative emotional feelings such as grief, isolation, coping, and despair. However, less is known about how the type of treatment and diagnosis of miscarriage influence the emotional experience.

Material and methods: The present study was a randomized prospective longitudinal cohort study, in which women with spontaneous miscarriage (n = 35), and women with missed miscarriage (n = 67), were included to answer three validated questionnaires: Revised Impact of Miscarriage Scale, Perinatal Grief Scale, and Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, concerning experience of miscarriage, psychological well-being, and mental health 1 week and 4 months after finalized treatment.

Results: There was no difference between the 2 diagnosis groups in feelings as measured by Revised Impact of Miscarriage Scale, Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, and Perinatal Grief Scale 1 week after the miscarriage. However, the psychological well-being improved significantly 4 months after the miscarriage. Separated by treatment, women treated with misoprostol alone had more depressive symptoms than women treated with misoprostol and subsequent vacuum aspiration.

Conclusions: It can be concluded that diagnosis of miscarriage had limited influence on the experiences of miscarriage, but shorter duration of treatment with misoprostol and subsequent vacuum aspiration resulted in fewer depressive symptoms.

Keywords: Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale; Perinatal Grief Scale; Revised Impact of Miscarriage Scale; emotion; grief; miscarriage; spontaneous abortion.