Women's experiences of early miscarriage: implications for nursing care

Aims and objectives To investigate women's experience of early miscarriage (the first 16 weeks of pregnancy) by reviewing the literature since 1990, identifying and exploring critical themes. Background Early miscarriage loss accounts for 50,000 inpatient admissions per year in the UK reported in 2010. It can result in anxiety, depression, guilt, emptiness and other features of bereavement. Design A structured literature review of qualitative literature was undertaken to explore the evidence of women's experience of early miscarriage, and elicit common themes emerging. Methods A systematic electronic database search was conducted using a range of search engines. Nine papers were identified; four from the UK and one paper each from the USA, Australia, Canada, Israel and Sweden. Results Four predominant themes were identified from the experiences of 211 women in the nine studies: ‘What I feel’, ‘Care for me and communicate with me’, ‘Me, my baby and others’ and ‘Help me to cope with the future’. Conclusions Early miscarriage is a potentially devastating experience, and the diversity of experiences of women must be reflected in the provision of appropriate and sensitive nursing care. Relevance to clinical practice The study demonstrated a significant training need for nurses and midwives to provide women with individualised care.