Perinatal Loss and Grief Flashcards
7 cards from real PSI practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Perinatal Loss and Grief flashcards as text
What is the clinical significance of a baby's original 'due date' for parents who have experienced perinatal loss?
Answer: Due dates are typically times of renewed grief intensity and may require additional support outreach
Due dates and loss anniversaries frequently trigger renewed grief responses, making them important times for perinatal support providers to offer proactive outreach and additional support.
A parent describes feeling physically empty and disconnected from her body after a stillbirth. This experience is best understood as:
Answer: A dissociative or somatic manifestation of grief after traumatic loss
Feelings of physical emptiness or dissociation after stillbirth are recognized somatic and dissociative manifestations of grief, not indicators of psychosis.
Which statement about grief following a first-trimester miscarriage is most accurate?
Answer: Grief after miscarriage can be profound regardless of gestational age and warrants serious clinical attention
Research shows grief after miscarriage can be profound regardless of gestational age; PSI emphasizes treating all pregnancy losses as significant grief events.
What is 'subsequent pregnancy anxiety,' also known as 'pregnancy after loss' (PAL) anxiety?
Answer: Heightened fear and worry experienced throughout a pregnancy that follows a perinatal loss
Subsequent pregnancy anxiety refers to the heightened fear, hypervigilance, and worry that many women experience throughout a pregnancy following a prior perinatal loss.
When facilitating a combined support group that includes parents who experienced miscarriage alongside those who experienced stillbirth, what is the most important facilitation principle?
Answer: Acknowledge that all losses are significant while recognizing that individual experiences and needs may differ
Effective facilitation validates the significance of all pregnancy losses without ranking them by severity, while remaining sensitive to differing individual experiences.
What is the recommended timing for follow-up contact with a family after perinatal loss according to perinatal bereavement best practices?
Answer: Proactively at multiple points including shortly after the loss and around significant dates such as due dates and anniversaries
Best practices call for proactive, multi-point follow-up after perinatal loss, with particular attention to significant dates that may trigger renewed grief.
How does cultural background most significantly influence the experience of perinatal grief?
Answer: Cultural beliefs, mourning rituals, and community practices shape how grief is expressed and what support is meaningful
Cultural beliefs, mourning practices, and community rituals significantly shape how bereaved parents express grief and what forms of support they find meaningful and acceptable.