Hi Everyone,

Laura Sharp is a 5th year doctoral student who is doing her dissertation on gender differences in coping after miscarriage....basically the male vs female point of view.

She is also a person who experienced 3 miscarriages herself.

Participants are needed for her research study on Gender Differences in Coping after Miscarriage.

Laura writes:

"Over one million couples experience a miscarriage each year in the United States. Little is known about how couples cope after miscarriage or which coping patterns may be useful for individuals and for the couple's relationship. Knowledge about how the sexes cope with this life crisis, that is faced by so many couples, would be beneficial in various ways including assisting couples in understanding the coping process and facilitating coping after a miscarriage. The purpose of this study is to examine the use of coping patterns in couples who have maintained their marital relationship after miscarriage."

Laura asks if you and your spouse are willing to complete a short set of questionnaires? She's looking for couples who have had a miscarriage prior to 20 weeks gestation, have had a miscarriage in the past 4 years, are married to the person that they experienced the miscarriage with.

If you are interested in helping Laura with her research which I'm sure will benefit many, by giving us a better understanding of coping after miscarriage, please contact Laura Sharp with your address and a research packet will be mailed to you. All addresses are destroyed once the packet is mailed to maintain privacy. You can contact Laura Sharp at [email][email protected].[/email]

I'm planning to particiapate in this study myself, having lost 8 pregnancies to recurrent miscarriage. I think this study will go a long way towards influencing how couples who suffer from recurrent miscarriage are counseled and cared for. There is a virtual desert of information regarding this. Someone needs to do something about helping couples who experience recurrent miscarriage. This is one of the reasons I set up the recurrent miscarriage section of this website. Hopefully Laura's research will get the word out and many more couples will receive the support they need.

Fondly,