This study aimed to understand how women with single or recurrent miscarriages cope during the waiting periods after miscarriage – waiting for pregnancy or waiting for pregnancy confirmation – and investigate their perception of a ‘positive reappraisal’ managing intervention for these waiting periods. Positive reappraisal is a cognitive strategy to change the meaning of a situation, explicitly reinterpreting the situation in a more positive way.
In the present study, a qualitative methodology was used. Data were obtained from two focus groups comprising nine women with one or more miscarriages.
Two core categories, ‘uncertainty’ and ‘bracing’, were highlighted during the waiting period for confirmation of an ongoing pregnancy. Women who had experienced a single miscarriage appraised this waiting period as benign and used distraction and coping by social support. Women with recurrent miscarriages could not confidently appraise the waiting period as one that would bring hope or joy and used bracing for the worst as their coping strategy to manage this ambivalence.
The study concluded that coping interventions targeting reappraisal of the waiting period stressor situation could help women cope as they wait for a subsequent pregnancy to be confirmed as ongoing. Coping interventions may need to be tailored, but further study is necessary to identify the most appropriate approach before introducing any strategy.
Reference: https://srh.bmj.com/content/39/4/250
