Grieving From the Womb: Meaning Construction in Response to Father Loss Before Birth

Echoes of loss: An interpretive phenomenological study of the expressions of childhood bereavement after the death of a parent, in bereaved adults spousal and parental relationships

This qualitative study explored the long-term effects of childhood bereavement after the death of a parent on adult spousal and parental relationships. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, we conducted in-depth interviews with nine Israeli adults who lost a parent in childhood. The study drew on the dual process model of coping with loss to examine how early loss of a parent is expressed through adult relationships. Three main themes emerged from the data: 1. perceptions of the early loss of a parent as trauma; 2. hypersensitivity and anxiety regarding further abandonment; and 3. 'live life to the fullest: restoration-oriented coping as growth stemming from a traumatic loss', which highlights possible posttraumatic growth. These findings contribute to our understanding of the complex, long-term impacts of childhood loss of a parent on adult relationships, describe some of its emotional mechanisms, and offer insights and clinical implications for clinicians and researchers working with bereaved individuals.

Continuing bonds and the posthumous child

The strategies that bereaved individuals use to establish an ongoing bond with the deceased have attracted considerable attention. However, the narratives of young widows pregnant at the time of their partner's death reveal unique strategies that have not yet received attention in the literature. This interpretive phenomenological research explores the strategies employed by 13 Israeli widows who lost their partners while pregnant. Continuing bond strategies were found to be associated with the trajectory of the posthumous child's life, beginning with the stages of pregnancy, childbirth, baby naming, and the child's resemblance to the deceased. The involvement of the newborn in the widows' post-death relationship with their deceased husband establishes a new sense of time-a relational one-in which they navigate between the past, present, and future, blurring boundaries and experiencing moments of stopped time. Implications are discussed in relation to the "replacement child" phenomenon.

Congenital loss: Loss of an immediate family member prior to or during one's birth

The loss of a family member is often conceptualized as a disruption in one's life story. However, when a loss occurs prior to, or during, one's birth, the bereaved life stories are not interrupted by the loss, but rather begin with loss. The paper offers a new conceptualization of these losses as "congenital losses" and captures the core aspects of this phenomenon. A qualitative phenomenological analysis of 34 in-depth semi-structured interviews with offspring and siblings whose family members died before/during their birth revealed four main challenges presented by congenital loss: incoherency and fragmentation; story-ownership; bond-establishment, and; identity challenges.

"Empty Chairs at Empty Tables": Disenfranchisement by Association

The rise in research publications over the last few decades about disenfranchised grief has deepened our understanding of this field. Importantly, it raises awareness and validates human experiences of bereavement, which are often socially ignored, muted, and stigmatized. However, while researchers in the field actively engage in the task of "enfranchisement," as they present their work at scientific conferences, they might experience what we term disenfranchisement by association in the academic sphere. Based on our own experience, this article will demonstrate the parallel pathways between disenfranchisement of bereaved individuals and disenfranchisement of disenfranchised grief researchers, as it emerges in three main expressions of disenfranchisement: reluctance to listen, shame and guilt inflicting, and demand for euphemism. A conclusive note on how to address this kind of disenfranchisement is suggested.

Designing in-depth semi-structured interviews for revealing meaning reconstruction after loss

The recent upsurge in the use of qualitative empirical studies, aiming to provide a deeper understanding of human reactions to loss, requires a methodological account of how to conduct better qualitative research with regard to data collection. This paper offers six general interview guidelines aimed at assisting researchers to achieve quality interviews in qualitative bereavement studies, based on the theoretical framework of meaning (re)construction in loss.