Abstract

Post mortem examination following a stillbirth is one of the gold-standard examinations to establish a cause of death. It is not clear is there are religious influences in the decision making process for parents to consent to a post mortem and whether maternity healthcare chaplains have a role in the support of parents and other healthcare professionals in this area. This study sought the views of maternity healthcare chaplains in the United Kingdom and Ireland to explore their understanding of perinatal post mortem and their experiences in the support of parents. There were Christian, Muslim and Non-faith chaplains in the study. No chaplain identified any religious prohibition on post mortem and most reported that they had been asked about post-mortem by bereaved parents and of these only a minority felt adequately prepared to offer help. The results of this study recommend that chaplains with appropriate training are well placed to offer support to parents and colleagues during the post-mortem decision making process.