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 In analyzing hundreds of posts under the "ihadamiscarriage" hashtag,
the study team observed that women use the social media site for
finding community and "breaking the silence" around pregnancy loss.
Healthcare providers should consider discussing this outlet as a
resource, the researchers write in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Up to 20% of pregnancies result in miscarriage, and while
information on diagnosis and medical care is widely available, the
psycho-social implications of fetal loss are less widely discussed,
the authors note.
"Our culture has a convention of not disclosing pregnancies until
they are in the second trimester - when it is 'safe' to tell people,
because the pregnancy is probably going to be fine," said study
leader Dr. Rebecca Mercier of Sidney Kimmel Medical College in
Philadelphia.
This means many women go through miscarriage without social support
and are often in situations where they are coping with and possibly
grieving a loss that others may not know, she said.
Mercier and her team were interested in getting a more "unfiltered
view" of women's responses to miscarriage by looking at how women
described their experiences on Instagram.
The researchers reviewed 200 Instagram posts selected over five days
in the spring of 2019 with the #ihadamiscarriage tag, a campaign
started by Los Angeles-based psychologist Jessica Zucker. (https://bit.ly/2RFoJvP)
The overarching theme behind sharing experiences on social media was
to seek support and to offer it, the researchers found. Miscarriages
were depicted as pivotal and life-defining moments, with posts that
reflected women's new identity as a mother despite having lost their
baby.
Grief was the most commonly expressed emotion, followed by
conflicted emotions, anger, regret and hope. Many posts were found
to contain not just one emotion, such as grief, but described
several feelings simultaneously, the study team notes.
Some posts also described the reactions of family members, friends
and colleagues, including comments women found insensitive and
hurtful.
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"Many of the things that friends and acquaintances often say to
women who have had miscarriages are not helpful and bordering on
insensitive," said Dr. Michael Greene of Massachusetts General
Hospital in Boston, who was not involved in the study. "Those kinds
of dismissive remarks are not helpful to women who are grieving over
the loss of a pregnancy."
Most women turned to religion as a means of processing and coping
with their loss. Many memorialized the miscarriage in a variety of
ways, including planting trees, getting tattoos, creating a memorial
or artwork, and naming the baby.
"Some of the content posted suggests that people are developing
their own ways of remembrance and memorial for their loss, and
sharing these on social media may be its own form of grieving ritual
for our age," Mercier said in an email.
Several posts spoke of women seeking help for anxiety and depression
and attending professional therapy or counseling, while others
emphasized self-care, including exercise, nutrition and wellness.
Mercier cautions that any woman sharing her experience on social
media would risk opening themselves to negative comments, and that
sharing and finding support online should not replace seeking
professional help, when needed.
"The internet has an ugly side to it . . . I'm very hesitant to
recommend something like going to the internet to solve your
problems," Greene said in a phone interview, adding that he prefers
to refer women to therapists or even other patients who have had
similar experiences.
The study does not prove posting on Instagram actually resulted in a
greater degree of resolution or coming to peace with the event as
compared to talking with a licensed healthcare professional, he
added.
"It's important for healthcare providers to simply appreciate that
this can be a very devastating experience for your patient and to
not dismiss and minimize it and to recognize it as the woman does -
as this kind of a life event," Greene said.
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2QERdnw Obstetrics & Gynecology, online
December 3, 2019.
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