Regarding the study by Hutti, Armstrong, and Myers (MCN36(2), 2011).

摘要

Regarding the study by Hutti, Armstrong, and Myers (MCN 36(2), 2011), which investigates the important issue of the psychological effects of losing a child before, during, or after childbirth: The study concludes that mothers with history of loss during birth attempt to cope with anxiety through extra telephone calls, more frequent visits, and additional testing. However, the findings in the study do not entirely support this conclusion, for the following reasons.First, Table 3 in the above study shows that mothers who are pregnant for the first time had a higher utilization of healthcare in the initial time period (Time Period 1 with the variable of self) than mothers who had a experienced perinatal loss. A more accurate conclusion statement would have discerned between the group with a prior loss and the first-time mother group because both groups increased utilization of healthcare.Second, Table 3 also shows that mothers with a previous loss made more telephone calls, with more unscheduled visits, and utilized more diagnostic procedures regarding the baby in comparison with the other two groups. However, there are some instances in which the previous loss group and first pregnancy group values are nearly the same or that the first pregnancy group had a greater amount of healthcare utilization (HCU). The conclusion that "mothers with a history of prior perinatal loss utilized more healthcare resources in the subsequent pregnancy when compared with the non-loss controls" is therefore not really supported by the data.