Suggested template for abstract submission
1st International Spirituality in Healthcare Conference: ‘Sowing the seeds’
Thursday 25 June 2015
 Title
 Religiosity, Spirituality Hope and trauma in Women who have experienced
Fetal Anomaly Diagnosis.
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Authors and their affiliations
Prof Joan G Lalor
School of Nursing and Midwifery,
Trinity College Dublin
 This abstract for submission as:
Concurrent session
 Contact details of corresponding author:
Name: as above
Address:
Email: j.lalor@tcd.ie
Telephone: 89640218
 Provide up to three key words:
 Secondary data analysis, spirituality, prenatal diagnosis
 Word count (not to exceed 500)
 Suggested content headings:
Background:
Routine ultrasound in pregnancy has received an almost uncritical acceptance from
both women and clinicians. As images generated by this technology of visualisation
have become ever more lifelike, it has led to the modality developing a social
meaning. This blurring of the traditional boundaries between health and illness has
meant that for women, the opportunity to ‘meet the baby’ has dominated its
medical use as a screening tool.
Aim:
The aim of this paper is to explore women’s narratives of the traumatic event that is
prenatal diagnosis for references to spirituality and religiosity in order to understand
if they have a role in decision making, coping and recovery.
Methods:
Forty two women were interviewed on up to three occasions following an
ultrasound diagnosis of fetal anomaly. The main study employed a grounded theory
methodology to generate a theoretical understanding of the process of grieving
following the loss of an ‘ideal’ child. For this paper, a secondary data analysis of the
narratives was undertaken to explore the role of spirituality, religion and prayer in
how they coped with this traumatic event.
Suggested template for abstract submission
1st International Spirituality in Healthcare Conference: ‘Sowing the seeds’
Thursday 25 June 2015
Findings:
References to God and the belief in a just world were common throughout the
narratives. For some women, there was evidence of a spiritual struggle whereby God
was viewed as punitive, and when present the challenge to gain an understanding of
this inexplicable event was complicated. For others, prayer was used as a form of
bargaining, at times resulting in deferred decision making with regard to further
testing. Although many women referred to engaging in more frequent conversations
with God and their deceased relatives, none reported an increased engagement in
religious services or turning to their clergy for support. An overwhelming belief that
God could remedy the situation was rare in these narratives; however, references to
one’s faith been shaken or lost were also made as women sought to make meaning
from this event.
Discussion:
The relationship between spirituality and the traumatic loss that is prenatal diagnosis
remains relatively unexplored. In this study, certain forms of spiritual struggle such
as feeling punished by God or experiencing a sense of injustice complicated the
coping process formed part of the narrative. For those women who used prayer as a
form of pleading, it, on occasion, resulted in avoidant behaviour in terms of further
testing to reach a definitive diagnosis.
Conclusion:
Further research is required to explore the relationship between religiosity,
spirituality and coping following traumatic grief associated with prenatal diagnosis.
The extent to which this relationship should be acknowledged in interactions with
caregivers should be explored if we are to understand further the process of gaining
meaning following a traumatic event.