Abstract

The death of a baby during pregnancy is upsetting for all involved, including healthcare professionals. Few obstetricians, if any, receive adequate training in how to care for parents following a stillbirth, or training in self-care skills. We developed a workshop for trainee Obstetricians which used drama techniques to teach them skills in communication, self-care, and self-efficacy in breaking bad news. We evaluated this workshop using an anonymised post-workshop questionnaire which was completed by 39 of the 59 (66%) trainees who attended the workshop. Most trainees had received no prior formal training in stillbirth management (34/38, 87%). Following participation in the workshop, there was a statistically significant improvement in trainees’ level of confidence in breaking bad news, communicating clearly with the family when breaking bad news, communicating empathetically with the family when breaking bad news, recognising the emotional needs of the family, recognising their own emotional responses, and supporting their colleagues. In addition, trainees made very positive comments about the course content and reported they would recommend the workshop to a colleague. Based on our findings, we recommend that this type of training should be incorporated on a more permanent basis into the core postgraduate curriculum in obstetrics and gynaecology.