Maternal mental health and perinatal grief awareness

Discussions regarding maternal mental health have centered on the emotional complexities of pregnancy, motherhood, and perinatal loss.

Initial accounts highlighted personal experiences with spontaneous pregnancy loss and the emotional impact of grief. Individuals also shared the anxieties, guilt, and safety concerns associated with motherhood, as well as the challenges of managing pregnancy in the public eye.

Subsequent developments focused on broader mental health awareness, specifically addressing gestational and perinatal grief. Efforts to break the social silence surrounding child loss included community actions and symbolic tributes organized by groups such as Red Con la luna como cuna. Additionally, psychological perspectives were offered regarding the difficulty of reconciling preconceived mental images of pregnancy with reality.

On October 15, the International Day of Gestational, Perinatal, and Neonatal Grief was observed globally through various awareness and support initiatives. In Spain, organizations like Mi Pequeño Ángel Alado held workshops in Alicante, while officials in Orihuela participated in remembrance acts. In Menorca, Hospital Mateu Orfila updated its protocols to include support tools such as memory boxes.

In Argentina, healthcare institutions utilized artistic encounters and specialized nursing care to support mourning families, including the use of the ‘blue butterfly’ symbol to signal bereavement. In Navarra, the association Esku Hutsik held a ceremony to demand improved public policies, more sensitive healthcare, and better access to psychological resources for grieving parents.