Ethical Response to Perinatal Loss-Communication Is Nearly Everything

There are more than 800,000 pregnancy losses in the US each year but the numbers do not explain the lived experience of loss. Twelve authors shared deep and descriptive accounts of their losses and as a commentator, I elevated specific themes from their writing to apply an ethical lens. Depth of grief, poor communication from care providers or others, testing and the disposition of fetal remains, fear, sense of failure, and an important missing component-miscarriage or fetal death in the context of a pregnancy that was unwanted-are considered.