Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Analysis of Electrocardiograms and Behavior in Mice from Pregnancy to Lactation Period
06:40

Analysis of Electrocardiograms and Behavior in Mice from Pregnancy to Lactation Period

Published on: April 5, 2024

The tie that binds: relationships in perinatal bereavement

Rana Limbo1, Kathie Kobler

  • 1Bereavement and Advance Care Planning Services, Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation, Inc., La Crosse, WI, USA. rklimbo@gundluth.org

MCN. the American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing
|August 21, 2010
PubMed

Relationship is a central concept to the delivery of quality perinatal bereavement care. This article explores relevant bereavement research and clinically based writings about relationship in the care of families experiencing perinatal loss. Focusing on relationship provides a framework to guide interventions that will be perceived as meaningful and helpful to grieving parents. From the moment parents learn the difficult news of their baby's poor prognosis or death, nurses must strive to establish trust while building an effective working relationship with the family. A nurse with an understanding of the relationship needs can guide parents in creating a context for supporting each family member dealing with this unexpected family tragedy. Through sensitive follow-up bereavement care, nurses provide a source of hope for grieving families over time. Ultimately, nurses must find meaningful ways of self-care as a way of reinvesting in future relationship with other grieving families.

More Related Videos

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure07:56

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure

Published on: September 19, 2019

Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit11:50

Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Published on: January 7, 2020

Related Concept Videos

Bonanno's Theory of Grieving01:17

Bonanno's Theory of Grieving

Grieving is a complex psychological and emotional process that varies significantly among individuals. George Bonanno's research on bereavement identified four distinct patterns of grieving, offering a nuanced understanding of how people cope with significant loss, such as the death of a spouse, over extended periods. These patterns — resilience, recovery, chronic dysfunction, and delayed grief — highlight the diversity in emotional responses and adaptive mechanisms.
Resilience
The resilience...
Ending Relationships01:28

Ending Relationships

The dissolution of intimate relationships presents complex emotional and psychological challenges, particularly when emotional bonds are strong, the relationship is long-standing, and perceived alternatives are limited. This distress often intensifies in romantic breakups, where the initiator may experience greater turmoil than the rejected partner. Contributing factors include residual attachment, guilt over causing pain, and uncertainty about how to manage the situation. The stress is further...
Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
Attachment01:20

Attachment

Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that physical...
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood03:34

Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood

Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships.
Relationship Growth01:27

Relationship Growth

Interpersonal relationships progress through stages, beginning with awareness and moving toward mutuality, where emotional connections deepen. While many relationships remain at moderate levels of mutuality, deeper connections form through self-disclosure, trust, and interdependence.Self-DisclosureSelf-disclosure involves revealing personal information, starting with surface-level details and gradually progressing to more intimate content. As trust grows, individuals feel more comfortable...