Our research team believes that every person affected by infant loss should be provided with appropriate opportunities to talk about their experience. To conduct this study, however, we had to introduce some eligibility criteria that may exclude some people from participating. It was critical to ensure that everyone participating in this study would have appropriate levels of support during and after their participation. To this end, the research team have developed some key partnerships with hospitals and community groups around Australia. With the assistance of our key research partners, a purposeful sample of bereaved mothers and their partners and health professionals will be recruited and given the choice to participate in this study. Our Ethics Approval requires that we only accept referrals from these study partners.

Eligibility criteria and recruitment protocol for health professionals.

Eligibility criteria and recruitment protocol for bereaved mothers.

Eligibility criteria and recruitment protocol for bereaved mothers’ partners.

Recruitment and data collection for this study has now been finalised.

Health Professionals: The research team aims to speak to health professionals who are responsible for the health and wellbeing of mothers and their families after infant death. Our research partners will assist us to recruit healthcare professionals, who can choose to opt-in to the study. We will be talking with a range of health professionals including:

• Midwives
• Lactation Consultants
• Neonatologists/Neonatology Fellows
• Neonatal Nurses
• Obstetricians
• Bereavement Counsellors & Social Workers
• Human Milk Bank Staff

Focus groups and/or face-to-face or phone interviews will be conducted with health professionals to encourage discussion of their professional roles and care practices. Careful attention will be made to protect the confidentiality and privacy of all professionals involved in the study.

Bereaved mothers: The research team aims to speak to mothers who, in the last 12 months, experienced either:

• Still birth (fetal death after 20 weeks of gestation); or
• Neonatal death (first 28 days of life); or
• Older infant death (1 – 12 months of age) and were producing breastmilk, or had breastmilk stored in a fridge or freezer, at the time of the infant’s death.

Mothers will be excluded if:

• Prior to death the infant had been removed from their care by Care and Protection authorities; or
• They experienced postpartum psychosis after the birth of the deceased infant.

Mothers will only receive an invitation for research participation after a minimum of three months have passed from the date of infant death.

Our project partners will contact bereaved mothers who fit this eligibility criteria (via letter) asking if they would like to opt-in to the study. Interested participants will contact the researchers directly. Project partners will remain unaware of the names of people who have opted-in to the study.

Bereaved mothers who choose to participate in our study will be provided a lot of choice around how they participate and can choose between face-to-face interviews, phone interviews or providing a written response to open-ended survey questions. The study participants’ confidentiality and privacy will be protected throughout all stages of the study – including when we disseminate the results.

Bereaved mothers’ partners: The research team aims to speak to some of the partners of bereaved mothers who have participated in the study.

Partners who choose to participate in our study will be provided with the same choices around participation as their partners were. They will also be able to choose whether they are interviewed by a male or female researcher.