Introduction: Intrauterine fetal death is a fetus that shows no signs of life in the womb. The question that every parent facing this tragic event wants to answer is, “Why exactly did my child die?”. This question cannot always be answered. The cause of death has not been identified in almost half of stillborn children. Definitions of intrauterine death vary from country to country. The loss of a child is a difficult and sad reality for many families, which seriously affects the health and well-being of families. Purpose: The purpose of the diploma thesis is to explore the selected topic in more depth with the help of professional and scientific literature, as midwives often encounter intrauterine fetal death in a clinical setting. Methods: The diploma thesis is based on a review of Slovenian and foreign professional and scientific literature. In the first part of the diploma work, for research is used a descriptive method of work. In the second part, a qualitative method is used, where unstructured interviews are conducted with two women who faced fetal death during pregnancy. Prior to the initial research, we informed the participants in writing about the purpose and course of the research and assured them that all collected data are anonymous and users exclusively for the purpose of preparing a diploma thesis.Results: The results are answers to questions answered by two women who faced fetal death in utero. Woman A experienced intrauterine death in the 32nd week and woman B in the 38th week of pregnancy. From the women's answers, we learn that they both experienced shock and distress, the world stopped at the news that the fetal heart was no longer beating. The interviewees said that the memories of the lost child helped them in the mourning process. In one interviewee, we noticed an improvement in the partnership, and in the other, unfortunately, the opposite. From our findings, both interviewees confirmed that their partners were introverted. It is characteristic of men that they suppress their feelings and thus do not want to burden their partners with their distress, but wants to protect them. Both interviewees were satisfied with the attitude on the part of the midwives and nurses. However, they emphasize that an empathetic, patient and individual-oriented approach by health professionals is very important. Discussion and conclusion: Parents expect to die in front of their children, so the loss of a fetus is one of the most difficult trials in life that parents have to face. Healthcare professionals should offer help and support to families facing loss. Clinical and psychological support and effective appropriate training should be provided to healthcare professionals, as dealing with such cases will never be easy.
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