Analysis of social support networks in situations of fetal loss

• Grant number: 23/00150-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2023
• End date: July 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Public Health
• Principal Investigator: Nelson da Cruz Gouveia
• Grantee: Julie Higuti Fukushima
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/07765-0 - Fetal deaths: challenges for knowledge and intervention, AP.TEM

Abstract

The objective will be to analyze the types of social support received by mothers and families in a situation of fetal loss. The loss of a baby is recognized as a traumatic event and can be accompanied by an important social burden and with effects on the woman's physical and psychological health. One of the possible mediators of this effect may be social capital, defined as the characteristics of social support networks that bring some resource to the individual. Data will be obtained from a sample of 100 mothers, after hospital discharge, through interviews and a questionnaire with a perinatal grief scale. In order to understand the grieving experiences of these mothers and families, the following topics will be investigated: individual and family grieving experiences after fetal loss; thoughts and feelings about the loss, return to activities of daily living, social capital and support received from health services, during and after hospitalization, as well as demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of mothers.