Stillbirth: Psychosocial Care

Evidence-based practiceand patient-cen- tered practice are not mutually exclusiveclinical ideals. Instead, both styles hold tremendous potential for complementarity in healthcare and should be used to enhance clinical relationships in which car- ing is humble, mindful, and nuanced. The onus of the responsibility for many decisions about care after stillbirth falls on clinical staff. Yet, even in the dearth of literature exploring standards of care during still- birththe results can be conflicting. Thus, research in both patient-centered and evidence-based approaches suggest that less emphasis should be placed on the standardization of care; rather, the focus should be on relational caregiving that underscores the uniqueness of each patient and their family, recognizes culture, and encourages affirmative, rather than traumatizing, provider reactions.