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We didn't deserve this: bereavement associated with multifetal reduction

Kate Sullivan Collopy1

  • 1Department of Nursing, University of New Hampshire, Durham 03824, USA. kate.collopy@unh.edu

Twin Research : the Official Journal of the International Society for Twin Studies
|August 20, 2002
PubMed

With the dramatic increase in the incidence of higher-order multiple pregnancies, more and more women are advised to consider undergoing multifetal reduction. However, little is known about the woman's experience of making the decision to undergo or forgo reduction. This study explored the experiences of seven women in making this decision and to identify any effects of it. Vivid descriptions emerged of multiple levels of bereavement. Several participants lamented that nothing occurred naturally in their pregnancies, from conception right through delivery and life with multiples.

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