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From Discharge to Healing: A Nurse's Guide to Mental Health Resources After Loss
Every week, we deliver evidence-based strategies for modern perinatal bereavement care. Written by Jay CRNA, MS, specializing in obstetrical anesthesia, and Trina, a bereavement expert, both who have experienced loss.
Trina Parkin
April 23, 2026 • Read time: 5 minutes
In Today’s Issue:
🔗 The best resources I found this week
📖 Deep dive: From Discharge to Healing: A Nurse's Guide to Mental Health Resources After Loss (Mental health resource below)
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Want to learn how to get Forget Me Not Boxes in your hospital? Reply “Bereavement boxes”
🔗 The Best Resources for Further Learning on Today’s Deep Dive
[Article] The Hidden Grief of Miscarriage – The American Psychological Association digs into why grief after miscarriage often goes unsupported — and what that silence costs women.
[Study] Mental Health Care Following Stillbirth – New 2026 research from a specialized reproductive psychiatry center found that 82% of women who received psychosocial support after stillbirth reached full remission — without medication.
[Article] Supporting Maternal Mental Health After Perinatal Loss – A practical, evidence-based breakdown for mental health professionals.
📖 Deep Dive
Mental Health After Loss: What Happens When Parents Go Home?
One more thing before we dive in — I created a resource at the of today’s deep dive 👇 “Mental Health Resources After Miscarriage, Stillbirth, or Infant Death”. It's something you can reference yourself or hand straight to a family walking out the door.
Today we're unpacking what the data tells us about what's happening across hospitals when a woman goes home after a miscarriage or the death of her baby — and equipping this community with a resource guide you can put to use right away.
What the Research Tells Us
The STRONG Women Study (Doyle et al., 2023, General Hospital Psychiatry) surveyed women at the Minnesota State Fair, comparing those with a history of pregnancy loss against those without. The findings are hard to sit with.
2 out of 3 women who experienced a miscarriage did not receive a mental health screening.
Only 25% received a mental health care recommendation after their loss.
60% of participants said they did not receive mental health resources — but many wished they had.
Despite ACOG's own guidelines recommending routine mental health screening, the research found these conversations were simply not happening.
I meet with many nurses who subscribe to this newsletter to talk through their challenges and successes. One thing is always clear — there is no shortage of effort, especially in this community. But nurses and OBs are stretched thin, and protocols vary hospital to hospital. There is often no standardized pathway for mental health follow-up after loss. This newsletter aims to educate and inform so you can advocate for change within the system — and bring the data to the table when you do.
Why This Matters: The Mental Health Toll Is Real
The emotional weight of losing a baby doesn't end at discharge. For many women, that's when it gets heavier. Here are a few stats I found from PubMed Central, Pregnancy loss: Consequences for mental health.
After a miscarriage:
Up to 55% of women experience symptoms of depression.
More than 18% report moderate anxiety.
Up to 27% experience significant perinatal grief.
Women with two or more miscarriages have even higher rates — 72.7% at risk for anxiety, 51% at risk for depression.
After the death of a baby (stillbirth):
Up to 50% of bereaved parents experience anxiety and depression in the months that follow — and these symptoms can persist for up to 3 years.
The phase of reorganization and acceptance typically doesn't begin until about 18 months after loss.
Long-term effects include lower quality of life, relationship strain, and increased risk of PTSD — impacts that don't simply fade with time.
Another major prospective cohort study (218,990 women, UK Biobank) found that women with a history of stillbirth had a 15% higher risk of developing common mental disorders later in life — including depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. Women with recurrent miscarriage had a 14% elevated risk.
These aren't small numbers. These are the women sitting in your waiting rooms, in your discharge bays, filling out paperwork while carrying grief that may follow them for years.
The Discharge Moment Is a Turning Point
There's a reason this matters specifically to L&D nurses: you may be the last healthcare provider she sees before she goes home.
What gets handed to her — or doesn't — in that moment shapes what comes next.
Research supports three simple, powerful actions at or before discharge:
Name the grief. Say it out loud. "What you're going through is a real loss. It's okay to not be okay." Normalizing the emotional experience reduces shame and isolation.
Provide a resource card. Written resources — even a simple list of hotlines and support groups — give her something to reach for when the house goes quiet.
Make note for follow-up. Even a brief phone check-in or a note in the chart flagging her for a follow-up call within two weeks can make a meaningful difference. The authors of the STRONG Women Study specifically highlight follow-up gynecological visits as a key opportunity to revisit mental health needs.
Telehealth counseling was flagged as a particularly promising avenue to increase accessibility — especially for women in rural areas or those without easy access to in-person mental health services.
A Note on Who's Most at Risk
Not every woman will struggle equally. Research has identified several factors that increase the risk of significant mental health challenges after loss:
Low socioeconomic status
No living children
Loss within the past 6 months
Limited social support
A history of prior mental health challenges
Black women — who are approximately twice as likely to experience major depression risk after early pregnancy loss compared with non-Black women
Black women who are undergoing early pregnancy loss treatment, are about twice as likely to experience risk for major depression compared with non-Black women, a reason to establish black race as a risk factor for adverse outcome.
This last point deserves specific attention. Racial disparities in perinatal mental health are well-documented. Connecting Black patients specifically to culturally affirming resources — including Sisters in Loss, a nonprofit dedicated to pregnancy and infant loss support for Black women — is one concrete step.
The Bottom Line
The STRONG Women Study says it plainly: the mental health needs of women after loss "continue to be inadequately acknowledged and addressed."
The WHO has called for action on improving maternal mental health around perinatal loss. ACOG recommends screening. The evidence is there.
What's needed now is a bridge between what research recommends and what actually happens in the room at discharge.
You are that bridge.
A resource card. A moment of acknowledgment. A name on a list.
It might be the most important thing she takes home.
Print out: Mental Health Resources
I put this together for you — print it, keep it at the nurses' station, or hand it directly to a family.
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Source: Doyle, C., Che, M., Zhanni, L., Roesler, M., Larsend, K. & Williams, L.A. (2023). Women's desires for mental health support following a pregnancy loss, termination of pregnancy for medical reasons, or abortion: A report from the STRONG Women Study. General Hospital Psychiatry, 84, 149–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2023.07.002
Vote on today’s deep dive below and give additional feedback (it helps guide what we go deep on)
👋 That’s a Wrap!
Before you go: Here are ways we can help your hospital
Education: Please share our newsletter with your co-workers. Our priority is empowering nurses with the tools to support patients with modern, evidence-based bereavement education.
Bereavement boxes: Our bereavement boxes were designed out of a need for a modern, high quality solution for families suffering from miscarriage, stillborn, or infant death.
Reply to this email “Sample” to get a free sample sent to your hospital.
What we prioritize:
Tools for hospitals to create a bereavement experience for families to begin their grief journey
Educating nurses with modern bereavement standards and continuing education.
Helping hospitals build a foundation of trust and support, so bereaved families feel seen and cared for—now and in the years to come.
These boxes were born out of our own personal losses, including Jay’s (CEO) 15 years of experience working in labor and delivery as a CRNA and witnessing time and again how the hospital experience can profoundly shape a family’s grief journey, for better or for worse.
Until next week,
Trina and Jay
Co-founders of Forget Me Not
