[Psychological consequences of perinatal loss in subsequent pregnancies--a comparative study]

Pregnancies after perinatal loss occur often. However, little is known about the need of secondary psychological prevention in these instances. Therefore we investigated psychological disorder and distress during the subsequent pregnancy after perinatal loss.

We compared psychological symptoms in pregnant women with and without previous perinatal loss.

Pregnant women in the PL-group did not suffer more from depression, anxiety and other psychological distress than women without perinatal loss. Nearly a third of the women in the PL-group were classified as unresolved with regard to their mental representation of attachment indicating that their mourning process was still not completed.

Women who have suffered from perinatal loss do not score higher on depression, anxiety or general psychopathology during subsequent pregnancies than women without loss experience. Only a minority of women, who have suffered from loss show ongoing signs of unresolved mourning. However, in order to detect criteria for the identification of those who might be at risk during subsequent pregnancies studies with larger samples size are necessary.