Providing support for a grieving family

Originally published in: The Herald-Sun
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Edition:
Page: C4
By Jeannine Sato, Durham Connects

The loss of a baby is an unimaginable event. When it does occur through miscarriage, stillbirth or newborn death, a family's next step is coping with the grief and loss.

Socially, families often feel pressure to move on before they are ready. Or they may feel insecure about reaching out. Unfortunately, there are few local resources available for families experiencing the loss of a baby. This led to a collaboration of local hospital care providers, social workers and child and family agencies who have organized a series of one-time classes to help parents through the grief process.

Durham's Perinatal Loss Support Group Collaborative formed in late 2008 when social workers at Duke Medical Center, along with the Durham Connects newborn visiting program, joined forces to meet a need for support and follow-up care for families experiencing the loss of a child. Joanna Parker, coordinator of Duke Hospital Bereavement Services, reflects that "perinatal loss support is a much needed, and often hard to find resource, and it is a very positive development that our local community will once again have an emotionally supportive and educational forum for grieving women and families."

The Durham Connects program, which visits parents of newborns, decided early on to extend visits to mothers who have experienced a loss at birth. In addition to the emotional needs of the family, the mothers still have post-partum medical needs that can be addressed by a home-visiting nurse.

The goal is for Durham Connects to provide support and resource referrals for grieving families. However, nurses found there were no local support groups specifically targeted to perinatal loss and few resources that tackled such a difficult topic.

"The hospitals do an excellent job in providing immediate support for parents and memorializing the lost infant," said Durham Connects nurse Jackie Parrish. "But I think there is something special about a support group where people can share their experience with those who have experienced a similar loss. For the mothers I've met, having someone outside of the family who can listen and understand what it's like is very valuable."

The group has created a series of one-time perinatal loss and education support classes to help families cope with the loss of a baby. The classes are free and open to the public. Registration is required. The class will be held at the Teer House, Duke's community education center in Durham.

Durham Connects is a collaboration of the Durham Family Initiative, itself a partnership of the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University and the Center for Child and Family Health, and the Durham County Health Department. It is funded by The Duke Endowment. For more information, please visit www.durhamconnects.org or call (919) 668-3279.

Perinatal Loss Education and Support Class

A class for families who have experienced the loss of a baby through miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, or newborn death.

The same class is presented each date listed. Classes are at the Teer House, 5:30 to 7 p.m.

April 27

June 22

Aug. 24

Oct. 26

Dec. 28

Registration is required. To register, go to http://www.dukehealth.org/locations/teer_house/, or call (919) 416--DUKE (3853). For additional information, call (919) 477-2644

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