The effect of planned social support program given within the scope of perinatal bereavement care on women's perceived social support and perinatal grief level: A mixed method study

This study was conducted to determine the effect of planned social support program provided to women experiencing perinatal loss within the scope of bereavement care on their perceived social support and perinatal bereavement level. In the study, a concurrent parallel mixed-methods design was used, combining quantitative and qualitative methods. The sample of the study consisted of 58 women (Intervention group: 29, Control group: 29) who were hospitalized due to perinatal loss before completing the 22nd gestational week and met the research criteria at the delivery unit of Balıkesir University Health Practice and Research Hospital between July 2024 and March 2025. The study group, with which in-depth interviews were conducted, consisted of 7 women from the intervention group. The planned social support program was implemented in two stages: on the 0th day in the hospital and on the 4th day via phone call. The women in the control group received standard midwifery care. After the women were discharged, the study data were collected simultaneously in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd weeks. The study data were collected using the Descriptive Information Form, the Revised Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Perinatal Grief Scale (PGS), and the Semi-Structured Interview Form. The conformity of the quantitative data of the study to normal distribution was evaluated using the Shapiro Wilk Test. The scale scores were compared by group and time using the Robust ANOVA, and multiple comparisons were evaluated with the Bonferroni test. The significance level was set at p<0.05. Perinatal bereavement levels of women in the intervention group, which received the planned social support program, were found to be significantly lower than those of women in the control group (p<0.001). Perceived social support levels of women in the intervention group were found to be significantly higher than those of women in the control group (p=0.019). ix The qualitative data of the study were analyzed using the MAXQDA 24 analysis program. In this study, content analysis method, one of the qualitative analysis methods, was used to determine the participants' experiences of the perinatal bereavement process, their views on the approaches of their social environment, and their views on the planned social support program. As a result of the analysis, the women's experiences were determined under 5 main themes and 16 sub-themes: "emotional expression of bereavement", "factors affecting bereavement process", "adaptation to loss and recovery process", "perception of social support", and "impact of the program". As a result, it was observed that the planned social support program provided within the scope of perinatal bereavement care, which was implemented in addition to the standard midwifery care, decreased women's bereavement levels and increased their perceived social support levels. Keywords: Perceived social support, miscarriage, midwifery, termination of pregnancy, bereavement