Original title: Mothers’ experiences of bonding with their subsequent child following a previous perinatal bereavement
The researchers interviewed women who had lost a baby during pregnancy or around birth and later had another child. Many described worrying that another loss would happen, which could shape how they felt about bonding with the new baby. After birth, they worked to make room in their family story for both the baby who died and the baby who lived. Some said that support from others or therapy helped; keeping a bond with the lost baby could also help them grieve and connect with the new one.
Imagine making a family photo album after a new baby arrives. It can be hard to decide where the pictures of a child who died belong, especially when grief and joy sit side by side. In this paper, making room for both children in the family story reflects how mothers described bonding with their new baby while keeping a connection to the baby they lost.
Mothers expecting a baby after a perinatal loss may carry intense worries into pregnancy and early parenthood. Their accounts point to the value of support that recognises grief, relationships, and the bond with the new baby together.
The study reports interviews with seventeen women, so it describes their experiences rather than establishing how common these patterns are. The abstract does not give details about the participants’ backgrounds, compare specific types of bereavement, or show whether particular forms of support cause stronger bonding.
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Mothers’ experiences of bonding with their subsequent child following a previous perinatal bereavement — Rebecca Hefferman-Clarke, Lynsey Gregg, Lucy Singer et al. — Frontiers in Psychiatry — doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1894993
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.