Unclear across a barren landscape: parents' experiences with the aftermath of sudden infant death syndrome

The sudden and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant produces a profound and catastrophic sense of loss in parents. This study examines these outcomes in a group of 21 Canadian parents who were each interviewed and asked to tell their story of how they dealt with the aftermath of a death due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Using a grounded theory approach the results were analyzed using NVivo software and the themes and concepts that arose are described. The findings describe the grief process and the sub-types of memories these parents articulate, ranging from extremely traumatic to dissociative to pleasant. Issues of coping and resilience are examined, as well as the unique social stressors that these parents encounter. Emerging issues including emotion and grief, the physiology of bereavement, and lactation issues are included. Additionally, unique circumstances relating to the death scene investigation are examined, as well as support mechanisms that these parents used, including online assistance. It is argued that there is a more nuanced and complex phenomenon at play following a SIDS death. By examining pertinent aspects of grief theory, emotional memory, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) along with empirical evidence from interviews with parents, a more specific understanding of the unique trajectory that these parents undergo emerges. Grief theory explains issues including meaning reconstruction and ways in which healing occurs while PTSD and emotional memory add information on the extreme trauma and life-altering changes that parents described in the interviews. Thus the SIDS experience is unusual—not the same as other forms of grief, but also not as pathological as PTSD, since some parents do overcome the trauma on their own and do heal in time. The parents’ narratives in this study help to introduce concepts that are emerging in the literature. These include aspects of complicated grief, physiological and anthropological dimensions of grief, and long-term effects relating to grief-related morbidity and mortality.