Research

The Spaces Between Us:  Perinatal Death, Burial & Bereavement

Doctoral Thesis - 2023

Perinatal Death means death around the time of birth.  There is no universal definition for perinatal death and its meaning has changed over time.  Broadly, perinatal death refers to reproductive losses from 24 weeks gestation to the first week of life post-birth, in Ireland.  In other countries, different definitions are used. 

Perinatal death is a global issue, approx five million babies die in the perinatal period annually.  That means there are millions of bereaved parents left to deal with strong emotions following these deaths.  Despite the global prevalence of perinatal death, most of the research is focused on the immediate time of loss i.e. birth. 

This study was the first project to specifically examine the lifetime impact of parental grief following perinatal death.  As an interdisciplinary project, this study traced the evolution of bereavement care, institutional responses to death and reproductive loss, developments in medical and midwifery practice in response to death, the trajectory of bereavement care policy formation and implementation, and policy decisions impacting patient care.

Using Ireland as a case study this project explored the folklore of death and perinatal death in Ireland in the 19th and 20th centuries.  The study examined the evolution of death customs and rituals in Ireland through to the late-20th century, and the socioreligious responses to child, infant and reproductive loss. 

The project also explored the sociocultural history of death and burial. For over ten years, I have researched cillín burial grounds, also referred to as killeens or in Irish, cillíní.  This programme of research focused more closely on cillín burial practices investigating them from a sociocultural, as well as socioreligious, and archaeological perspective.

To the parents and siblings who participated in this project, an enormous thank you - the stories of your families and your babies have enriched our understanding.