Reconstructing the Continuing Bond

Rural Perinatal Loss: A Needs Assessment

OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying ◽

10.1177/0030222820926296 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 003022282092629

Author(s):

Julie S. Domogalla ◽

Janet McCord ◽

Rebecca Morse

Keyword(s):

Perinatal Loss ◽

Phenomenological Approach ◽

East Central ◽

Continuing Bond ◽

Minute Interval ◽

Mother And Child ◽

Infant Loss ◽

Childhood Loss ◽

Nonprobability Sample ◽

Bereavement Care

The purpose of this research was to ascertain the availability and depth of services of bereavement care for mothers who live rurally. The specific focus is on those who experienced early losses including pregnancy, stillbirth, neonatal, and young children who were born with fetal anomalies or neonatal disease that resulted in death. The convenience (nonprobability) sample originated from a population of mothers who lived in rural east central Minnesota. Participants were interviewed in a 60-minute interval. All data were coded confidential. Common themes, incidence of resources, or lack of bereavement resources for the participants’ lived experiences were considered using a descriptive phenomenological approach. Our appreciation of the continuing bond between mother and child compels us to believe that there is an ethical obligation to reduce and remove these barriers and inequalities in bereavement support services for those who live rurally and have experienced perinatal and infant loss. Results of this study indicate the need for further study and establishment of bereavement resources in rural outreach for perinatal and early childhood loss.

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Companionship

10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190634971.003.0003 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Kathleen M. Cumiskey ◽

Larissa Hjorth

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Mobile Phone ◽

Everyday Life ◽

Case Studies ◽

Active Part ◽

Pivotal Role ◽

Grieving Process ◽

Emotional Suffering ◽

Continuing Bond

In this chapter we investigate the shifting role of memorialization through case studies of individual usage of mobile and social media. The mobile phone, now an active part of everyday life for many, provides a pivotal role in the construction and maintenance of memorialization. We explore how the sense of co-presence generated through use of mobile-emotive rituals and practices can be experienced as a form of companionship and continuing bond. Drawing on fieldwork done predominantly in Australia, this chapter considers how the mobile phone can facilitate a kind of constant companionship that can be a lifesaver in times of extreme emotional suffering, and can assist users in practical as well as affective aspect of the grieving process.

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Comforting Versus Distressing Dreams of the Deceased: Relations to Grief, Trauma, Attachment, Continuing Bonds, and Post-Dream Reactions

OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying ◽

10.1177/0030222820903850 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 003022282090385 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Joshua Black ◽

Kathryn Belicki ◽

Robert Piro ◽

Hannah Hughes

Keyword(s):

Attachment Style ◽

Romantic Partner ◽

Continuing Bonds ◽

Posttraumatic Symptoms ◽

Continuing Bond ◽

Different Types ◽

The Impact

Why are some dreams of the deceased experienced as comforting, while others are distressing? We propose that there are different types of dreams serving diverse functions. In particular, we considered three: processing trauma, maintaining a continuing bond, and regulating emotion. We also examined the impact of post-dream reactions on the bereaved’s experience of their dreams. Participants were 216 individuals whose romantic partner or spouse had died. They provided reports of dreams of the deceased that were content analyzed and completed measures of grief intensity, posttraumatic symptoms, attachment style, internalized versus externalized continuing bonds, as well as questions about the death, and ratings of how they experienced the dream after awakening. Support was found for the three proposed functions, suggesting dreams of the deceased can actively facilitate adjustment to bereavement. In addition, there was evidence that post-dream reactions can impact both the perception of the dream and grief.

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