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Miscarriage and Curtains: A phenomenological autoethnography of curtains, privacy, and loss in an Early Pregnancy Unit in the UK

Aimee Grant Orcid Logo

Geoforum, Volume: 143, Issue: July 2023, Start page: 103786

Swansea University Author: Aimee Grant Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103786

Abstract

Curtains are an understudied everyday object which have considerable power. Research on their use within hospitals has primarily focused on their role in infection control, rather than as an agent for ensuring privacy and dignity. This paper presents an autoethnography of an Early Pregnancy Unit by...

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Published in: Geoforum
ISSN: 0016-7185 1872-9398
Published: Elsevier BV 2023
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63555
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first_indexed 2023-05-31T11:51:53Z
last_indexed 2023-05-31T11:51:53Z
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spelling v2 63555 2023-05-31 Miscarriage and Curtains: A phenomenological autoethnography of curtains, privacy, and loss in an Early Pregnancy Unit in the UK 6a1ce3bc54c692c804e858b70d2e4bd2 0000-0001-7205-5869 Aimee Grant Aimee Grant true false 2023-05-31 PHAC Curtains are an understudied everyday object which have considerable power. Research on their use within hospitals has primarily focused on their role in infection control, rather than as an agent for ensuring privacy and dignity. This paper presents an autoethnography of an Early Pregnancy Unit by a medical ethnographer experiencing an ectopic pregnancy, with a phenomenological focus on curtains. Within the treatment room, curtains facilitated bodily privacy and emotional support for those preparing for invasive scans. On the ward, staff attempted to use curtains to provide privacy, but the curtains were inadequate. This reduced the dignity of patients by allowing private moments, including visibly miscarrying a foetus, to be observed. It also allowed discussions around disposing of foetal remains to be overheard by others, reducing privacy. Hospital curtains are important agents of privacy and dignity, particularly around bereavement and loss. Journal Article Geoforum 143 July 2023 103786 Elsevier BV 0016-7185 1872-9398 Hospital, Privacy, Surveillance, Autoethnography, Ectopic pregnancy, Miscarriage 1 7 2023 2023-07-01 10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103786 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103786 COLLEGE NANME Public Health COLLEGE CODE PHAC Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Swansea University 2023-07-05T16:57:49.1831794 2023-05-31T12:48:33.6769640 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Health and Social Care - Public Health Aimee Grant 0000-0001-7205-5869 1 63555__27829__5c57af13d9844e869c96cb25b992b6a5.pdf 63555.pdf 2023-06-13T13:59:24.6853816 Output 676422 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY 4.0). true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Miscarriage and Curtains: A phenomenological autoethnography of curtains, privacy, and loss in an Early Pregnancy Unit in the UK
spellingShingle Miscarriage and Curtains: A phenomenological autoethnography of curtains, privacy, and loss in an Early Pregnancy Unit in the UK
Aimee Grant
title_short Miscarriage and Curtains: A phenomenological autoethnography of curtains, privacy, and loss in an Early Pregnancy Unit in the UK
title_full Miscarriage and Curtains: A phenomenological autoethnography of curtains, privacy, and loss in an Early Pregnancy Unit in the UK
title_fullStr Miscarriage and Curtains: A phenomenological autoethnography of curtains, privacy, and loss in an Early Pregnancy Unit in the UK
title_full_unstemmed Miscarriage and Curtains: A phenomenological autoethnography of curtains, privacy, and loss in an Early Pregnancy Unit in the UK
title_sort Miscarriage and Curtains: A phenomenological autoethnography of curtains, privacy, and loss in an Early Pregnancy Unit in the UK
author_id_str_mv 6a1ce3bc54c692c804e858b70d2e4bd2
author_id_fullname_str_mv 6a1ce3bc54c692c804e858b70d2e4bd2_***_Aimee Grant
author Aimee Grant
author2 Aimee Grant
format Journal article
container_title Geoforum
container_volume 143
container_issue July 2023
container_start_page 103786
publishDate 2023
institution Swansea University
issn 0016-7185
1872-9398
doi_str_mv 10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103786
publisher Elsevier BV
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Health and Social Care - Public Health{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Health and Social Care - Public Health
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103786
document_store_str 1
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description Curtains are an understudied everyday object which have considerable power. Research on their use within hospitals has primarily focused on their role in infection control, rather than as an agent for ensuring privacy and dignity. This paper presents an autoethnography of an Early Pregnancy Unit by a medical ethnographer experiencing an ectopic pregnancy, with a phenomenological focus on curtains. Within the treatment room, curtains facilitated bodily privacy and emotional support for those preparing for invasive scans. On the ward, staff attempted to use curtains to provide privacy, but the curtains were inadequate. This reduced the dignity of patients by allowing private moments, including visibly miscarrying a foetus, to be observed. It also allowed discussions around disposing of foetal remains to be overheard by others, reducing privacy. Hospital curtains are important agents of privacy and dignity, particularly around bereavement and loss.
published_date 2023-07-01T16:57:44Z
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