Perinatal Grief in the Indian Context: Conceptualizing and Companioning the Grieving Process

Reproductive loss takes many forms and is almost always a significant loss. In the Indian context, grieving over stillbirths is disenfranchised as the perinatal loss itself is shrouded in stigma, blame, discrimination, mistreatment, or misplaced guilt with an urgent expectation to move on. Perinatal...

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Main Authors: Yamini Devendran, Vaishalee Saravanan, Veena A. Satyanarayana, C. Savitha, Gayathri Devi, Geetha Desai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2025-07-01
Series:Journal of Psychiatry Spectrum
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jopsys.jopsys_85_24
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author Yamini Devendran
Vaishalee Saravanan
Veena A. Satyanarayana
C. Savitha
Gayathri Devi
Geetha Desai
author_facet Yamini Devendran
Vaishalee Saravanan
Veena A. Satyanarayana
C. Savitha
Gayathri Devi
Geetha Desai
author_sort Yamini Devendran
collection DOAJ
description Reproductive loss takes many forms and is almost always a significant loss. In the Indian context, grieving over stillbirths is disenfranchised as the perinatal loss itself is shrouded in stigma, blame, discrimination, mistreatment, or misplaced guilt with an urgent expectation to move on. Perinatal grief exists as disconcerted feelings of numbness, sadness, helplessness, anger, guilt, or frustration. This article aims to provide a broad view of the conceptualization of perinatal loss, including its psychological, sociocultural, and theological underpinnings. The article also highlights that companioning the grieving process through psychotherapeutic approaches has had encouraging outcomes yet requires more robust research supporting their effectiveness, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, including India.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
issn 2949-6969
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
record_format Article
series Journal of Psychiatry Spectrum
spelling doaj-art-7d17daa3e0af484bb17b4bedc5d6e27b2025-08-20T03:31:41ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Psychiatry Spectrum2949-69692025-07-014325626110.4103/jopsys.jopsys_85_24Perinatal Grief in the Indian Context: Conceptualizing and Companioning the Grieving ProcessYamini DevendranVaishalee SaravananVeena A. SatyanarayanaC. SavithaGayathri DeviGeetha DesaiReproductive loss takes many forms and is almost always a significant loss. In the Indian context, grieving over stillbirths is disenfranchised as the perinatal loss itself is shrouded in stigma, blame, discrimination, mistreatment, or misplaced guilt with an urgent expectation to move on. Perinatal grief exists as disconcerted feelings of numbness, sadness, helplessness, anger, guilt, or frustration. This article aims to provide a broad view of the conceptualization of perinatal loss, including its psychological, sociocultural, and theological underpinnings. The article also highlights that companioning the grieving process through psychotherapeutic approaches has had encouraging outcomes yet requires more robust research supporting their effectiveness, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, including India.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jopsys.jopsys_85_24parent-fetal attachmentperinatal griefperinatal losspsychotherapy for grief
spellingShingle Yamini Devendran
Vaishalee Saravanan
Veena A. Satyanarayana
C. Savitha
Gayathri Devi
Geetha Desai
Perinatal Grief in the Indian Context: Conceptualizing and Companioning the Grieving Process
Journal of Psychiatry Spectrum
parent-fetal attachment
perinatal grief
perinatal loss
psychotherapy for grief
title Perinatal Grief in the Indian Context: Conceptualizing and Companioning the Grieving Process
title_full Perinatal Grief in the Indian Context: Conceptualizing and Companioning the Grieving Process
title_fullStr Perinatal Grief in the Indian Context: Conceptualizing and Companioning the Grieving Process
title_full_unstemmed Perinatal Grief in the Indian Context: Conceptualizing and Companioning the Grieving Process
title_short Perinatal Grief in the Indian Context: Conceptualizing and Companioning the Grieving Process
title_sort perinatal grief in the indian context conceptualizing and companioning the grieving process
topic parent-fetal attachment
perinatal grief
perinatal loss
psychotherapy for grief
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jopsys.jopsys_85_24
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AT veenaasatyanarayana perinatalgriefintheindiancontextconceptualizingandcompanioningthegrievingprocess
AT csavitha perinatalgriefintheindiancontextconceptualizingandcompanioningthegrievingprocess
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