The continuing process of parental grief.

The death of a child is an incomprehensible and devastating loss. Grief for parents is lifelong, becoming the connection between parent and child. To extend and deepen current understanding of parental grief, a new survey instrument was developed, combining quantitative and qualitative measures. The qualitative findings from this combined methodological study are presented. Parental grief themes are derived from the respondents' descriptions of their grief resulting in a reformulation of parental grief.