Sharing, Support-Seeking and Managing Safety: A Qualitative Study of Online Platform Experiences after Pregnancy Loss

Pregnancy loss has been associated with several psychological difficulties including anxiety, trauma, and depression. However, locating support after pregnancy loss can be difficult due to the societal stigmatisation of the experience. In this case, past research has indicated that social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube) and online forums can serve as valuable spaces for people to share their experiences and to seek support following pregnancy loss. However, as most past studies have focused on the use of individual platforms after pregnancy loss, rather than considering how these users engage with multiple platforms simultaneously, this means that our current understanding of online engagement among this population is limited. Therefore, our study aimed to develop a comprehensive understanding of current online platform experiences after pregnancy loss, by examining how users manage their engagement across multiple different platforms. Through administering a qualitative online survey and conducting semi-structured interviews, we recruited 92 total participants who had experienced pregnancy loss. A reflexive thematic analysis was then conducted to analyse this data. Our findings show that while participants actively worked to manage their online experiences, and to protect their safety online, there were also certain online challenges which limited their ability to do this. We discuss the implications of these findings for supporting safer online platform engagement within future research and practice.