Bereavement is a difficult issue for midwives to manage and families suffer when the care they receive is inadequate or inappropriate. Written by an experienced midwife and researcher, this work examines ways in which midwives can assist families to embark on a healthy grieving process. This new edition of a groundbreaking work reflects the important developments in the general understanding of and research into loss and death. Providing a wealth of information for both experienced and inexperienced midwives, the book covers topics including: perinatal and neonatal loss; miscarriage and termination for foetal abnormality; death of a mother in third world and first world settings; and difficulties encountered during future childbearing. Combining an authoritative research-based orientation with a critical yet human approach to this sensitive topic, the book aids midwives in providing effective care and support to those who experience loss. The author draws on relevant and largely research-based literature fro a wide range of related disciplines to inform this area, which is only now receiving the attention it has long deserved.