Abstract
Losing a baby to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) triggers a severe loss reaction. The severity of the loss may be attributed to the baby’s age, the lack of satisfactory explanation for the death, and a lack of social recognition. The current study aimed to examine the loss experience of Israeli parents (N = 12) who lost a baby to SIDS through the theoretical lens of ambiguous loss. A deductive and inductive thematic analysis revealed that, for these bereaved parents, entities of the baby—physical and psychological—are unclear. Thus, the parents’ loss is likewise unclear and ambiguous.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1186-1195 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Death Studies |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Funding
The author would like to thank Mrs. Noa Avitan and Mrs. Gal Yitzhak for conducting a well-designed sensitive qualitative interview, and to Mrs. Shani Pitcho-Prelorentzos for her important enlightening comments. The author would also like to thank the research participants who have helped to ensure that I learn as much as possible from their tragic loss. My heart is with them.