Research-based practice with women who have had miscarriages.

PURPOSE To summarize a research-based description of what it is like to miscarry and to recommend an empirically tested theory of caring for women who have experienced miscarriage. DESIGN The research program included three phases: interpretive theory generation, descriptive survey and instrument development, and experimental testing of a theory-based intervention. METHODS Research methods included interpretive phenomenology, factor analysis, and ANCOVA. FINDINGS A theory of caring and a model of what it is like to miscarry were generated, refined, and tested. A case study shows one woman's response to miscarrying and illustrates clinical application of the caring theory. CONCLUSIONS The Miscarriage Model is a useful framework for anticipating the variety of responses women have to miscarrying. The caring theory is an effective and sensitive guide to clinical practice with women who miscarry.