Other Titles
Episteme Award Recipient 2025
Abstract
Parents who experience the loss of a baby through stillbirth or shortly after birth face deeply distressing and traumatic episodes. These experiences are often described as among the most painful in their lives. However, society often does not recognise the depth of this grief, leaving parents feeling isolated, stigmatised, and unsupported. Healthcare providers also fail to give adequate care to these parents and families. This study aims at developing a holistic cultural congruent bereavement care framework to support parents and families coping with the loss of a baby through stillbirth or after a neonatal loss in Uganda.
The study will employ a qualitative research design, utilising an interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA) to explore and understand the lived experiences of parents and families following stillbirth or after neonatal loss. In addition, the study will gather the perspectives of healthcare workers to provide a comprehensive understanding of the socio-cultural, economic, and systemic factors influencing bereavement care.
The study will be conducted in purposively selected healthcare facilities located in different regions of Uganda, including healthcare workers from maternity care units and parents or families who have experienced stillbirth and neonatal loss. The study will be conducted in 4 distinct phases.
Notes
References:
Ayebare, E., Lavender, T., Mweteise, J., Nabisere, A., Nendela, A., Mukhwana, R., Wood, R., Wakasiaka, S., Bedwell, C., Blaikie, K., Actis Danna, V., Sutton, C., Laisser, R., Tembo Kasengele, C., Wakasiaka, S., Victor, S., & Lavender, T. (2021). Understanding the complexities of unexplained stillbirth in sub‐Saharan Africa: a mixed‐methods study.
Fernández-Sola, C., Camacho-Ávila, M., Hernández-Padilla, J. M., Fernández-Medina, I. M., Jiménez-López, F. R., Hernández-Sánchez, E., Conesa-Ferrer, M. B., & Granero-Molina, J. (2020). Impact of perinatal death on the social and family context of the parents.
Mills, T. A., Ayebare, E., Mukhwana, R., Mweteise, J., Nabisere, A., Nendela, A., Ndungu, P., Okello, M., Omoni, G., & Wakasiaka, S. (2021). Parents' experiences of care and support after stillbirth in rural and urban maternity facilities: a qualitative study in Kenya and Uganda.
Mills, T. A., Ayebare, E., Mweteise, J., Nabisere, A., Mukhwana, R., Nendela, A., Omoni, G., Wakasiaka, S., & Lavender, T. (2023). ‘There is trauma all round’: A qualitative study of health workers’ experiences of caring for parents after stillbirth in Kenya and Uganda.
Sigma Membership
Alpha Beta Upsilon at-Large
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Phenomenology
Research Approach
Qualitative Research
Keywords:
Stillbirth, Bereavement, Uganda
Recommended Citation
Nuwabaine, Lilian, "A Holistic Culturally Congruent Bereavement Care Framework for Parents and Families After Stillbirth and Neonatal Loss in Uganda" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 1.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/presentations_2025/1
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
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Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-11-04
A Holistic Culturally Congruent Bereavement Care Framework for Parents and Families After Stillbirth and Neonatal Loss in Uganda
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Parents who experience the loss of a baby through stillbirth or shortly after birth face deeply distressing and traumatic episodes. These experiences are often described as among the most painful in their lives. However, society often does not recognise the depth of this grief, leaving parents feeling isolated, stigmatised, and unsupported. Healthcare providers also fail to give adequate care to these parents and families. This study aims at developing a holistic cultural congruent bereavement care framework to support parents and families coping with the loss of a baby through stillbirth or after a neonatal loss in Uganda.
The study will employ a qualitative research design, utilising an interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA) to explore and understand the lived experiences of parents and families following stillbirth or after neonatal loss. In addition, the study will gather the perspectives of healthcare workers to provide a comprehensive understanding of the socio-cultural, economic, and systemic factors influencing bereavement care.
The study will be conducted in purposively selected healthcare facilities located in different regions of Uganda, including healthcare workers from maternity care units and parents or families who have experienced stillbirth and neonatal loss. The study will be conducted in 4 distinct phases.
Description
Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (Sigma) has named Lilian Nuwabaine, PhD(c), MScN, BScN, as the 2025 Episteme Award recipient. Each biennium, the Episteme Award recognizes a nurse scientist or team of nurse scientists whose work has resulted in a breakthrough in nursing knowledge development that has a profound impact on an underserved population in nutrition/malnutrition, clean water and sanitation, or diabetes prevention. This award is supported by the Baxter Foundation.