Influence of Perinatal Loss on Emotional Well-Being and Self-Esteem among Mothers in Nairobi County, Kenya

The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of perinatal loss on emotional well-being and elf-esteem among mothers in Nairobi County, Kenya. The objectives were: to establish the influence of perinatal loss on a mother’s emotional well-being and self-esteem after experiencing a perinatal loss and to establish how socio-demographics correlate with emotional well-being and self-esteem of mothers after a perinatal loss. The study sampled 65 mothers chosen using the stratified random sampling method. A descriptive research design that uses quantitative methods was employed as well as the use of SPSS for data analysis. The Perinatal Grief Scale, Psychological Well-being Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Socio-demographic questionnaire was used for data collection. The study revealed that perinatal loss has a significant influence on emotional well-being with 28.8% of the respondents having low psychological well-being with an overall mean of 91.33 (SD=16.51), 17.3% classified as having low self-esteem with an overall mean of 21.06 (SD=5.919) and 46.2% of the respondents having high emotional distress with an overall mean of 87.87 (SD=29.19) after experiencing the perinatal loss. The socio-demographic factors that had a significant association emotional well-being and self-esteem were monthly income, age and the type of perinatal loss experienced. This study recommends that psychosocial support should be introduced immediately after the loss and continued for a period of time after, a mental health practitioner should be in the care team. Best practices include psychoeducation, memorializing the child lost and psychological check-ins included in the postnatal visits.