Franchising the Disenfranchised: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Support Messages in American Miscarriage Sympathy Cards

Abstract

Miscarriages are a common and unfortunate pregnancy experience; however, parents’ grief over the loss of their unborn child continues to be disenfranchized. One suggestion that miscarriage grief is beginning to be seen as a legitimate loss is with the existence of miscarriage sympathy cards. These cards, similar to other loss sympathy cards, are designed to convey condolence to grieving parents. The purpose of this study was to examine how American miscarriage sympathy cards might help to franchise miscarriage grief and to identify the types of bereavement support message strategies presented in the cards. The qualitative content analysis of miscarriage sympathy cards (N = 63) identified that miscarriage cards primarily rely on death euphuisms to talk about miscarriages and rarely acknowledge parents’ loss as real. Cards presented several support message strategies, the most common being expressing care and concern, providing a religious perspective to explain the loss, and providing a philosophical perspective to explain the loss. Miscarriage card messages also relied on hypothetical memories parents would never experience as a way to help parents remember and honor their unborn child. These results suggest that although the existence of miscarriage sympathy cards imply miscarriage grief is franchised, the language and messages used show that parents’ grief could still be disenfranchized as people struggle with how to offer condolence after a miscarriage.

Keywords:

• Miscarriage
• sympathy cards
• supportive communication
• disenfranchised grief
• qualitative content analysis

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Heather J. Carmack

Heather J. Carmack is a Senior Associate Consultant in the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery at Mayo Clinic. Her research focuses on communication about patient safety.

Jocelyn M. DeGroot

Jocelyn M. DeGroot is a professor in the Department of Applied Communication Studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Her research focuses on communicative issues related to loss and grief.