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Perinatal Death and Grief in Canada

  • Chapter
The World of Bereavement

Part of the book series: International and Cultural Psychology ((ICUP))

Abstract

This chapter presents how perinatal death and the subsequent grief are experienced in Canada, a country integrating various cultures. A brief historical overview of the implications of loss in this culture is presented. The experiences of mothers, fathers, extended family members, other children, and health professionals is examined, focusing on information gathered from Canadian research and clinical practice. Excerpts from two clinical vignettes narrating the stories of Melanie and Stephane, whose daughter Erika and son Theo were both stillborn, and of Nick and Sandy, whose son Raphael died 7 days after birth, are presented throughout the chapter to illustrate the experiences and concerns that have inspired the development of an innovative model of care.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This again differs between provinces. In Quebec, mothers experiencing a perinatal death after 19 weeks pregnancy have access to a 20-week parental leave, while a projected law is under study to allow fathers a 5-week leave.

  2. 2.

    For the past 15 years, de Montigny and Verdon have carried out, both individually and together, a series of studies on the trajectories of bereavement and of care and services for parents experiencing a perinatal death, as well as being clinically active in providing support to families. More than 2,000 couples have been interviewed or have completed questionnaires. Likewise, more than 1,000 practitioners and 200 managers working in health services that provide care to these parents took part in the DÉPART project and in various workshops led by these authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Quebec in Outaouais, Gatineau, QC, Canada, J8X 3X7

    Francine de Montigny & Chantal Verdon

  2. Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5B 2K3

    Kory McGrath

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  1. Francine de Montigny
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  2. Chantal Verdon
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  3. Kory McGrath
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Correspondence to Francine de Montigny .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

    Joanne Cacciatore

  2. Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

    John DeFrain

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de Montigny, F., Verdon, C., McGrath, K. (2015). Perinatal Death and Grief in Canada. In: Cacciatore, J., DeFrain, J. (eds) The World of Bereavement. International and Cultural Psychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13945-6_11

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