A perinatal loss follow-up guide for primary care

Perinatal death, regardless of gestational age, can cause a grief response as severe and perhaps more intense than the grief response in families to adult deaths. Effective follow-up management has long term implications for physical and emotional recovery for these clients. The primary care practitioner can provide this sensitive and supportive management. This paper describes a guide for perinatal loss follow-up at office visits and includes guidelines for physical and emotional assessment, anticipatory guidance, facilitation of emotional expression, review of the events surrounding the loss and identification of coping mechanisms and support systems. The goal of follow-up management is to facilitate the grief process and prevent unresolved grief. The follow-up tool assists the practitioner through the follow-up process and provides documentation of the care provided. The tool can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions and the progress of the grief work at subsequent office visits.