Mai

My evidence-based research focuses on how miscarriage can lead to depression if patients do not seek out professional help. The main purpose behind the research project was to bring awareness to those who are going through a miscarriage that depression is not something that should be ignored. Medical providers and staff need to educate and support patients through the entire process. There is not exact reasoning as to why these individuals experience this and many health professionals have linked it to possible genetic abnormality, diabetes, health disorders, drug abuse and more.

One internal barrier that could interrupt the project would be poor communication between the medical provider to the patient. As a health care professional, patients seek care from doctors for a reason and for doctors to not have any sympathy towards their patient at the hardest time then that is usually the time patients transfer care. Physicians should listen to the wants and needs of the patient because it is them who is going through this difficult time. Being there for the patient and just listening is usually all that a patient asks for. There is an barrier within this poor communication where the patient is refusing to listen and that does make it harder for the medical provider to provide the necessary support for the patient, hence the reason why “there remains a discrepancy between the information needed after a pregnancy is lost and the information received” (L Abboud, 2005).

An external barrier that can be associate with the project is proper training of medical staff. Obstetric staff members as well as those in the hospital need proper training to not only help them with patients who experience this loss, but also to be able to assist the patient where needed. The outcome may not be what you as a health care professional may assume, so staff members should never judge them for the accident nor put the blame game back on them. Every woman is different in their own way and medical staff need to understand the educate themselves of every situation possible because every scenario is different in their own way. Medical staff need to have “competent in their abilities to provide emotional support (Vellyna, 2020). Medical staff members, especially those associated to OBGYN need to be provided education through outside organizations or support groups to better educate themselves of what is happening to these particular patients and how to respond to the loss without over stepping the barriers of professionalism.

Reference:

L Abboud and P Liamputtong. 2005. When pregnancy fails: coping strategies, support networks and experiences with health care of ethnic women and their partners. Journal of reproductive and infant psychology 23, 1 (2005), 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646830512331330974

Vellyna Sumarno, Meredith J. Temple-Smith, Jade E. Bilardi, Whose role is it? Primary care and the provision of emotional support for women experiencing miscarriage: a pilot qualitative Australian study, Australian Journal of Primary Health, 10.1071/PY20042, 26, 5, (388), (2020).