Best practice care after perinatal loss and subsequent pregnancy care: A workshop for midwives

Stillbirth and neonatal death are devastating pregnancy outcomes with long-lasting psychological, social, and economic consequences which extend into subsequent pregnancies. Annually in Australia, 1 in every 100 pregnancies at or beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy end with the death of a baby (stillbirth or neonatal death). The provision of respectful and supportive perinatal bereavement care to parents and families around stillbirth and neonatal death is a major contributor to their immediate and long-term wellbeing. Many parents will become pregnant again within a year of the death of their baby. Subsequent pregnancies following loss are at increased risk for a range of obstetric complications and adverse pregnancy outcomes and many parents will experience mixed emotions including high levels of anxiety, depression, and fear. Best practice care at the time of perinatal loss and in subsequent pregnancies is vital and relies on frontline maternity care providers who are equipped for this challenging role. These frontline workers are often midwives. The quality of care received by parents is linked to their grief and wellbeing, emphasising the need for evidence-informed and culturally appropriate care. The objective of this interactive workshop is to present an evidence -informed approach to midwives on best practice care in accordance with the recently updated Care Around Stillbirth and Neonatal Death (CASaND) clinical practice guideline which includes a stronger focus on provision of culturally appropriate care. The workshop will present new evidence to inform care and includes the following topics: Communication with parents including breaking bad news and shared decision-making around complex and difficult decisions such as mode and timing of birth Facilitating parenting and memory-making activities/rituals Perinatal palliative care Linkages to community support services Provision of culturally appropriate care Subsequent pregnancy care Parent and clinician resources to support best practice care including: 'Guiding conversations', a parent version of the clinical practice guideline; Parent brochure to support decision-making around stillbirth investigations; and 'Living with loss', an online program to support parents’ grief in the short and longer-term. This workshop will be delivered by an expert panel of leading researchers and clinicians from the Stillbirth Centre for Research Excellence (Stillbirth CRE) who not only are content experts in the field of perinatal research, but also understand the challenges of working a busy clinical setting and the drive to provide best practice, women centred care for all women and families. The panel will use case studies to facilitate discussion around the implications of new research and direction of future research. This interactive workshop will integrate participant feedback through polling and panel discussion.