Memorable Messages Embedded in Men’s Stories of Miscarriage: Extending Communicated Narrative Sense-Making and Memorable Message Theorizing

Abstract

Miscarriage occurs in roughly one in five pregnancies in the United States. Although it is largely considered a "women's issue," non-miscarrying spouses also endure the mental and relational health effects of the loss. Drawing on communicated narrative sense-making (CNSM) theory, we interviewed heterosexual, cisgender, mostly white, married men (<i>n</i> = 45) to solicit their stories of their spouse's miscarriage. Six types of memorable messages (i.e., messages that affect the values, behaviors and/or beliefs of the receiver) from social network members emerged - <i>have faith, brush it off, this (pain) is your fault, silence, I'm so sorry</i>, and <i>this happens a lot</i>. These messages illuminate the importance of context in memorable message meaning-making; highlight the complexity of "message gaps" in narratively processing difficulty; and uncover ethical issues with attending to men's experiences with miscarriage. We explore how these findings inform memorable messages theorizing and research.