UCD researchers collaborate with parents from pregnancy loss support groups to develop an innovative new programme for medical students.
Providing compassionate care and support to parents who have experienced perinatal loss requires knowledge, empathy and sensitivity. The spectrum of perinatal loss encompasses the loss of a pregnancy at any stage.
New research from University College Dublin (UCD) demonstrates that when medical students were given an opportunity to hear directly from bereaved parents in their training, their approach to bereavement care improved significantly.
While there are national programmes in place designed to provide perinatal bereavement education to healthcare professionals in clinical practice, this project is the first pilot to introduce parent-led bereavement education at the student level.
Researchers at UCD School of Medicine worked with patient advocates from Féilecáin, Leanbh mo Chroi and Ectopic Pregnancy Ireland to develop the study. The findings, published in The Clinical Teacher, highlight the value of in person, parent-led education and indicate that integrating lived-experience can better prepare students to provide bereavement care.
Dr Clare Kennedy, UCD School of Medicine tutor for Obstetrics and Gynaecology and an Irish Clinician Educator Fellow with the College of Physicians of Ireland, is first author on the paper. Dr Kennedy said, “This study demonstrates that the most powerful teachers of bereavement care are the parents who have lived through loss themselves. When medical students heard directly from bereaved parents, significant improvements were seen in their self-reported knowledge, skills, and self-awareness around bereavement care. The research demonstrates how patient voices can enhance medical training and move from clinical knowledge alone to a deeper understanding of the human experience."
Dr Kennedy and colleagues at UCD worked with the three perinatal loss advocacy groups to establish a patient / parent educator programme and provide students with a unique opportunity to learn about bereavement care from those who are experts through lived experiences. The programme focused on parents’ personal experiences of pregnancy loss, underlining the importance of sensitivity in clinical discussions, and the harm that can be caused by poor communication and lack of sensitivity.
Post-intervention responses showed the value of hearing from the bereaved parents, with students calling for continued parent-educators sessions.
Professor Mary Higgins, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Senior Lecturer, at UCD School of Medicine; Alison Lynch, Leanbh Mo Chroí; Nina Doyle, Féileacáin; and Susanne Brodigan and Laura Guild of Ectopic Pregnancy Ireland, are also authors on the paper, entitled ‘Stories of Loss’—Designing and Evaluating a Patient‐Led Perinatal Bereavement Programme for Medical Students.