Miscarriage with a History of Elective Abortion: A Comparison Study of the Miscarriage Experience - Women with a History of Elective Abortion Versus Women Without a History of Elective Abortion

Miscarriage occurs in approximately 15-20 of all recognized pregnancies. This event is perceived as emotionally difficult by most women. In addition, some of these women have a history of elective abortion, which has also been associated with grief and feelings of loss. It has been speculated that the experience of one loss will affect other experiences of loss. The purpose of this research was to compare the meaning of miscarriage between two groups of women those with a history of elective abortion versus those with no history of elective abortion. The difference in the negative meaning of miscarriage was compared between the two groups of women those with a history of abortion n84 and those without n376. In a secondary analysis of data, T-tests were used to determine any difference on mean MMS Meaning of Miscarriage Scale scores between the two groups. The MMS was designed by Swanson-Kauffman University of Washington, Seattle, study in progress to measure the negative meaning of miscarriage as experience by women. There were no significant differences in the two groups of women p.107. In addition the two groups of women appeared similar in the variables of age, length of time since loss, number of live children, history of stillbirth or neonatal death and educational level. kt