{"id":260035,"date":"2022-01-01T09:27:56","date_gmt":"2022-01-01T15:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=260035"},"modified":"2025-06-20T00:04:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T05:04:22","slug":"nurses-midwives-abortion-stress-anger-grief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/nurses-midwives-abortion-stress-anger-grief\/","title":{"rendered":"Academic review: Nurses and midwives involved with abortion experience ‘stress, anger, grief’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(Right to Life UK<\/a>)\u00a0A new academic review<\/a> of nurses and midwives involved in providing surgical abortions has found that they feel \u201cstress, anger, grief\u201d, require \u201cmoral support\u201d and have to adopt \u201ccoping strategies\u201d to deal with their work.<\/p>\n

Researchers from Zhejiang University and Ninghai Maternal and Child Health Hospital in China published<\/a> a review in April this year which details the emotional strains that many nurses and midwives involved in providing abortions experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cStress, frustration, anger and grief\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The review found that nurses and midwives experienced \u201cstress, frustration, anger, grief, and stigma, which were caused by their role in abortion care, guilt for aborting foetuses or incomprehension of women\u2019s abortion decisions\u201d.<\/p>\n

One interviewee said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

It was difficult for me to change my feelings\u2026I assisted with the induced abortion\u2026I cared for the crying woman and aborted foetus. I took the day to grieve and became depressed\u2026and soon after, I assisted with childbirth\u2026I couldn\u2019t truly feel happy, and it was difficult for me to say \u2018Congratulations on your newborn baby\u2019 to the mother and family.<\/em><\/p>\n

Others needed \u201cmoral support\u2026 just so you are not alone with the foetus \u2026 or alone with [the mother]\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI chose this job to help to create life, not to participate in care involving the termination of pregnancy\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The review also found that nurses and midwives employed a number of coping strategies \u201cfor dealing with their emotions and conflicts during provision of abortion care\u201d, such as redefining their role and \u201cemotional isolation\u201d. This involved \u201ckeeping silent, concealing emotions and not sharing feelings\u201d. Some \u201cescaped from emotional distress by praying or chanting\u201d.<\/p>\n

An unnamed interviewee said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The very first time I thought, I chose this job to help to create life, not to participate in care involving the termination of pregnancy\u2026 what is my obligation?. But now I (have) changed my view.<\/em><\/p>\n

Another explained<\/a>:<\/p>\n

It is difficult for us to provide all women with a good environment because\u2026a woman who gave birth to a boy was very happy to have the baby with her family in the delivery room, but in the next room was a woman who terminated her pregnancy and could hear the laughter from the adjacent room; she grieved so much.<\/em><\/p>\n

How should nurses and midwives treat the body of an aborted baby?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The review also found that nurses and midwives were unsure how they should treat the body of the baby whose life they had just helped to end, and how they should assist the baby\u2019s often grieving mother. \u201c[S]ome nurses treated the aborted foetus like a normally birthed child and showed their respect for the foetus\u2019s body\u201d.<\/p>\n

One interviewee reported:<\/p>\n

I was shocked! I didn\u2019t know what to do so I called the doctor and asked him what to do. He simply said \u2018drop it in the saline solution\u2019. There was no way I was going to do that. These babies are human beings who deserve to be treated with dignity and caring.<\/em><\/p>\n

The review itself in its conclusions recommends \u201casking the affected women\u2019s willingness of hand and footprints from the foetus or holding the aborted foetus might be helpful and convenient strategies for the grieving process\u201d.<\/p>\n

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said:<\/p>\n

The contradictions and mental gymnastics of these nurses and midwives is as shocking as it is sad. As a number of them rightly point out, on the one hand, they are bringing new life into the world at one end of the corridor, and at the other, they are assisting in the ending of it. No wonder they have to come up with various \u201ccoping strategies\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, if the unborn child was nothing other than a clump of cells, there should be no conflict. The very fact that these nurses and midwives experience such emotional turmoil whilst assisting in abortions is an indication of the moral importance of life in the womb. These nurses and midwives recognise, at least at some level, that this life is valuable and that through abortion, they are facilitating the loss of something truly precious.<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This article was published at Right to Life UK<\/a> and is reprinted here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Right to Life UK)\u00a0A new academic review of nurses and midwives involved in providing surgical abortions has found that they feel \u201cstress, anger, grief\u201d, require \u201cmoral support\u201d and have to adopt \u201ccoping strategies\u201d to deal with their work. Researchers from Zhejiang University and Ninghai Maternal and Child Health Hospital in China published a review in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":669,"featured_media":260036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077,5],"tags":[19,422,8627,14968,1165,14967],"yoast_head":"\nAcademic review: Nurses and midwives involved with abortion experience 'stress, anger, grief'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new academic review of nurses and midwives involved in providing surgical abortions has found that they have to adopt \u201ccoping strategies.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/academic-review-finds-nurses-and-midwives-involved-in-abortion-experience-stress-frustration-anger-grief\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Academic review: Nurses and midwives involved with abortion experience 'stress, anger, grief'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new academic review of nurses and midwives involved in providing surgical abortions has found that they have to adopt \u201ccoping strategies.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/academic-review-finds-nurses-and-midwives-involved-in-abortion-experience-stress-frustration-anger-grief\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-01T15:27:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-20T05:04:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1308226913-nurse.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Right to Life UK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Right to Life UK\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/academic-review-finds-nurses-and-midwives-involved-in-abortion-experience-stress-frustration-anger-grief#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/nurses-midwives-abortion-stress-anger-grief\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Right to Life UK\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/150f7162a1227b6c017d7c5a195741fb\"},\"headline\":\"Academic review: Nurses and midwives involved with abortion experience ‘stress, anger, grief’\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-01T15:27:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T05:04:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/nurses-midwives-abortion-stress-anger-grief\/\"},\"wordCount\":726,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"abortion\",\"china\",\"midwives\",\"Ninghai Maternal and Child Health Hospital\",\"nurses\",\"Zhejiang University\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Guest Column\",\"International\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/nurses-midwives-abortion-stress-anger-grief\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/academic-review-finds-nurses-and-midwives-involved-in-abortion-experience-stress-frustration-anger-grief\",\"name\":\"Academic review: Nurses and midwives involved with abortion experience 'stress, anger, grief'\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-01T15:27:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T05:04:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"A new academic review of nurses and midwives involved in providing surgical abortions has found that they have to adopt \u201ccoping strategies.\u201d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/academic-review-finds-nurses-and-midwives-involved-in-abortion-experience-stress-frustration-anger-grief#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/academic-review-finds-nurses-and-midwives-involved-in-abortion-experience-stress-frustration-anger-grief\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/academic-review-finds-nurses-and-midwives-involved-in-abortion-experience-stress-frustration-anger-grief#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Academic review: Nurses and midwives involved with abortion experience ‘stress, anger, grief’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/150f7162a1227b6c017d7c5a195741fb\",\"name\":\"Right to Life UK\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee6bbdc4cbe7693ee7cbacf0cff9e7c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee6bbdc4cbe7693ee7cbacf0cff9e7c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Right to Life UK\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/right-to-life-uk\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Academic review: Nurses and midwives involved with abortion experience 'stress, anger, grief'","description":"A new academic review of nurses and midwives involved in providing surgical abortions has found that they have to adopt \u201ccoping strategies.\u201d","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/academic-review-finds-nurses-and-midwives-involved-in-abortion-experience-stress-frustration-anger-grief","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Academic review: Nurses and midwives involved with abortion experience 'stress, anger, grief'","og_description":"A new academic review of nurses and midwives involved in providing surgical abortions has found that they have to adopt \u201ccoping strategies.\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/academic-review-finds-nurses-and-midwives-involved-in-abortion-experience-stress-frustration-anger-grief","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2022-01-01T15:27:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-20T05:04:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1308226913-nurse.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Right to Life UK","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Right to Life UK","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/academic-review-finds-nurses-and-midwives-involved-in-abortion-experience-stress-frustration-anger-grief#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/nurses-midwives-abortion-stress-anger-grief\/"},"author":{"name":"Right to Life UK","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/150f7162a1227b6c017d7c5a195741fb"},"headline":"Academic review: Nurses and midwives involved with abortion experience ‘stress, anger, grief’","datePublished":"2022-01-01T15:27:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T05:04:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/nurses-midwives-abortion-stress-anger-grief\/"},"wordCount":726,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["abortion","china","midwives","Ninghai Maternal and Child Health Hospital","nurses","Zhejiang University"],"articleSection":["Guest Column","International"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/nurses-midwives-abortion-stress-anger-grief\/","url":"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/academic-review-finds-nurses-and-midwives-involved-in-abortion-experience-stress-frustration-anger-grief","name":"Academic review: Nurses and midwives involved with abortion experience 'stress, anger, grief'","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-01-01T15:27:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T05:04:22+00:00","description":"A new academic review of nurses and midwives involved in providing surgical abortions has found that they have to adopt \u201ccoping strategies.\u201d","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/academic-review-finds-nurses-and-midwives-involved-in-abortion-experience-stress-frustration-anger-grief#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/academic-review-finds-nurses-and-midwives-involved-in-abortion-experience-stress-frustration-anger-grief"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/academic-review-finds-nurses-and-midwives-involved-in-abortion-experience-stress-frustration-anger-grief#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Academic review: Nurses and midwives involved with abortion experience ‘stress, anger, grief’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/150f7162a1227b6c017d7c5a195741fb","name":"Right to Life UK","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee6bbdc4cbe7693ee7cbacf0cff9e7c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee6bbdc4cbe7693ee7cbacf0cff9e7c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Right to Life UK"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/right-to-life-uk\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260035"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/669"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":260038,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260035\/revisions\/260038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}