First Advisor

Tina Burdsall

Date of Award

Spring 6-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Psychology and University Honors

Department

Psychology

Language

English

Subjects

NICU Death, Neonatal Death, Infant Loss, Bereaved Mother, Traumatic Grief, Perinatal Health

DOI

10.15760/honors.1723

Abstract

Infant loss in the United States occurs 5.6 per 1,000 live births. This paper examines risk factors that contribute to neonatal death. Prematurity is a risk factor for NICU admission. A portion of premature babies receiving care in the NICU will die. The stressful nature of the NICU has been studied widely in journals. The impact of NICU death on hospital staff and bereaved parents has been studied less. Mortality studies suggest that bereaved mothers are at a high risk of dying within the first 5 years after their child has died. Despite the frequency of maternal death post-child loss, almost no psychological research has been conducted on mothers who have experienced NICU death. The impact of Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has more recently been studied. Despite the growing number of studies on PGD and PTSD, the NICU bereaved parent community has not been included explicitly. Analyzing research from social statistics, public health, neuroscience, epidemiology, and medical literature may help support more research on this demographic.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/43830

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