Introduction:

A child’s death is a complex and painful process; the health staff describes difficulties to affront it.

Objective:

To identify the practices performed by the health staff to tackle the family of a newborn death into the hospital and determine which facilitates the grieving process.

Searching methodology:

Integrative review of scientific literature. 33 articles surpassed the methodological quality assessment and were included in the review.

Results:

Two kinds of practices were identified: support practices, such as facilitating the approach to the deceased baby and the postmortem photography; and non-support practices, such as the absence of prior consent before a group of students witness a specific procedure or hostile attitudes towards the patient.

Discussion:

The support practices are based on a truthful, adequate and ongoing communication between family and staff. On the contrary, the non-support practices are in relation with the high stress professionals are feeling, which come from the nature of the death event and the medical education characteristics.

Conclusions:

Professionals implement practices in the acompaniment to the suffering family member, some of which allow a better development of the grieving process. MÉD.UIS. 2017;30(3):89-100.

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