THE MARITAL HELPING RELATIONSHIP FOLLOWING PREGNANCY LOSS AND INFANT DEATH

Few studies have examined the therapeutic helping relationship within married couples, and those that have done so have considered stressor events that affect one spouse more than the other. This qualitative study of couples who experienced pregnancy loss and infant death explores the emotional support that spouses give to their partner. A minority of couples did not provide support to each other. In most couples, however, the support was described by both partners as mutual. Among all couples who provided mutual support, most of these perceived a fairly even exchange; some saw the husband as providing more support than he received, and one couple felt that the wife had been the primary helper. Couples who provided very little support to each other were helped by attending a peer support group.