Unmasking grief: Reflections on the complicated relationship between moral distress and grief

Abstract

Perinatal loss often occurs in the context of discovery of a medical condition that presents patients and healthcare providers (HCPs) with difficult choices. Treatment choices are influenced by medical technology, however inescapable prognostic uncertainty, coupled with shared decision-making can lead to ethical dilemmas (Graf et al., 2023) [1]. When patients experience perinatal loss HCPs must grapple with their own emotions. Their sense of grief arises from their empathic connection with patients, bearing witness to their grief. This grief may compound HCP moral distress. Moral distress has an element of emotion, however it is more than distress in tragic situations. Moral distress is linked to HCPs feeling responsible to take action (Dudzinski, 2016) [2]. In situations of perinatal loss, it is essential to acknowledge the grief and explore how it influences the experience of moral distress. This article will reflect on the impact of HCP grief in ethically complex situation of perinatal loss.