Bonded from Brokenness: A Collaborative Autoethnography on Maternal Bereavement

The purpose of this study is to explore the experience of maternal bereavement. As scholar practitioners the authors offer their personal narratives to bring awareness to the multifaceted aspects of grieving the death of a child. Using collaborative autoethnography as the study’s methodology enabled the authors to explore their connection to the sociocultural context of maternal grief. Data collection consisted of a dialogue process that took place electronically through the course of asynchronous messages. Data analysis revealed three interrelated themes: transformation, constructing meaning, and creative ways of knowing. The findings are examined in light of literature regarding maternal bereavement and the expressing of grief through writing. The study concludes with a discussion on implications and recommendations for bereaved mothers and those who serve this population.

Professional practice in caring for maternal grief in the face of stillbirth in two countries

ABSTRACT Objective: to understand professional care for maternal grief in the puerperium of stillbirth. Methods: a clinical-qualitative study with all the women who had stillbirths living in Maringá (Brazil) and participating in the Center d’Études et de Recherche in Family Intervention at the University of Quebec in Outaouais in Gatineau (Canada). Semi-structured interviews were carried out and the relevant aspects were categorized into themes. Results: the identified categories were: Assistance received in the puerperium with a focus on grief: hospital and outpatient environment, and Professional support in coping with maternal grief after fetal loss: with contact and memories, without contact and without memories and impossibilities of contact with the baby. Final considerations: the need for a multidisciplinary support and monitoring network for women who experienced fetal loss was evident. From this study, a routine of care for grief can be implemented in Brazil based on experiences in Canada.

Maternal grief: analysis and therapeutic recommendations

The following self-analysis contains key experiences of maternal grief over the course of the first 2 years following the death of a child, with specific examples and observations from bereaved mothers shared with the author. The references provide supporting evidence for commonality of the lived experience and observations. Therapeutic responses for clinicians give concrete direction for providing effective comfort. Self-care suggestions for mothers provide specific guidance for the readers. A 14-year retrospective epilogue puts the charged emotional description into a context of healing.

Bereaved Mothers and Masculine Queens: The Political Use of Maternal Grief in 1–2 Kings

Recent research demonstrates that maternal grief functions paradigmatically to epitomize despair and sorrow in the Hebrew Bible. These literary uses of maternal grief reinforce the stereotype of womanhood, defined by devotion to children and anguish at their loss. In 1–2 Kings, narratives about unnamed bereaved mothers are used politically to create a contrast with named biblical queens who lose their sons but never grieve for them. Although 1–2 Kings names the queen mothers alongside the male rulers, these mothers have no agency or when they do, they act more like men than women. Neo-Assyrian inscriptions attest the masculinity of royal female power, and this article argues that conceptions of royal female power in Judah were similar. By contrasting the masculine queens with stereotyped “real men” and “real women,” traditional gender performances literarily overcome the institution of queenship. While the queens are polemicized, unnamed mothers emerge as the female heroes of Kings. Royal female power is demoted beneath reproductive ability and emotional responses to children, while the gender fluidity of royal power is circumscribed.