A cross cultural exploration into the experience of pregnancy loss
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A cross cultural exploration into the experience of pregnancy loss (Qatar and UK)
IRAS ID
141098
Contact name
Susie Kilshaw
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
ISRCTN Number
n/a
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
n/a
Research summary
This research will investigate the way in which new medical technologies and relationships to unborn babies are being manifested in the experience of miscarriage. This cross-cultural and multi-sited research will collect ethnographic data in Qatar and the UK in order to gain an in depth understanding of the experiences of pregnancy loss in different cultural contexts. Advances in medical technology, and a low infant-mortality rate have raised expectations as to the successful outcome of each pregnancy. In addition, the early confirmation of pregnancy makes consequent pregnancy loss, which might have gone unnoticed or unconfirmed in the past, all the more difficult for mothers. Women and their husbands are increasingly investing in pregnancies at a very early stage. Technologies such as IVF and sonography mean that fetuses are imbued with personhood at a much earlier stage than has previously been experienced. This research will investigate “the baby” as a socially defined and socially constructed entity. This newly defined category of the “early” or “tentative baby” impacts the way in which loss is experienced when a wanted pregnancy is unsuccessful. Similar advances in medical technologies have been felt in Qatar and the UK and yet a variety of cultural and social differences mean that women will experience pregnancy loss differently. This research will explore the impact of new medical technologies and their negotiation by different cultural groups. We are seeking only the permissions for the UK portion of the fieldwork as all other permissions have been granted.
REC name
South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/SC/0555
Date of REC Opinion
24 Dec 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion