Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association
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This descriptive study examines the grief response of mothers who experienced a fetal loss in the middle trimester of pregnancy. Twenty mothers who lost a baby through spontaneous abortion or perinatal death within 1 year participated in this study. Data were collected by mailed questionnaires. ⋯ Comparison of the study population to a group of parents who suffered the loss of a child and to a group of women who had suffered the death of a close relative demonstrated that the study group presented a grief response similar in nature and intensity to the two normative groups. This study supports previous studies that indicated the existence of grief after mid-trimester fetal loss. Replication of this study with a larger sample is recommended to further support these findings.