[Taboo subject of miscarriage? - Anchoring through mechanisms at the medical, social, and organisational level "It broke my heart and that's just the way it is ..."]

Abstract

Introduction:  Miscarriage is the most common complication of pregnancy. In this work, the experiences associated with miscarriage and their relevance for the women are analysed on different levels.

Method:  In May 2023, 14 guided interviews were conducted with women. The text material obtained will be brought to a higher level of abstraction using Mayring's content analysis approach and then interpreted.

Results:  The results of the study underpin the significance of a miscarriage as a dramatic experience and the assumption of a broad taboo experienced as stressful. The deliberately chosen exchange among like-minded people, the concealment of the pregnancy and subsequently the miscarriage for reasons of shame, self-protection from professional disadvantages, and the assumption of overburdening the partner do not weigh as heavily as those mechanisms that operate in the health sector: at this level, mistrust, trivialisation and organisational and spatial inadequacies contribute to tabooing. The stressful circumstance of miscarriage is cushioned by people who recognise the grief and offer support.

Conclusions:  Based on the results of the study, improvements can be derived primarily in the area of care: Recognition of miscarriage, needs-based support services, improvement of communicative elements and organisational and spatial framework conditions.