Medical Staff Resources

I have been a Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Affiliated Photographer since 2021 and have been serving bereaved families since 2019. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep is an important resource likely available to your patients. Visit their website to learn more about how you can utilize their services or become a NILMDTS medical affiliate!

We want to support hospitals & staff as they support bereaved individuals and families.

Each family’s hospital experience before, during, and after loss can truly affect how well a family can heal from their trauma. Unfortunately, often the lack of resources, missed opportunities for care, or misguided words while in the first days of care after a loss often become a large part of a person’s trauma story.

This is why it is so important that the people who interact with these families as they navigate their grief should have Resolve Through Sharing (RTS) training (or the like) and should be encouraged to attend the PLIDA conference at least once.

Still, we know how quickly the turn-over rate is in hospital nursing and especially in bereavement care, and training is not always possible. That’s why I wanted to create a go-to space at AmosAnchors.org to serve the people who serve bereaved families most (and usually first) along their journey through grief.

Below you will find links to:

• Online Education for Medical Professionals: Bereavement Care
• Support Resources for Those Who Provide Perinatal Bereavement Care
• Michigan Department of Health’s Free Online Course: Bereavement Training for Maternal and Child Health Professionals
• Bereavement Photography Resources for Medical Professionals including Saline/Immersion Bath Photography
• Consulting for Perinatal Bereavement Support Program/Event Development

Online Education For Medical Professionals: Bereavement Care

AWHONN (Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses) Perinatal Bereavement Resources: Supporting Nurses, Supporting Families

“AWHONN has developed resources for nurses and caregivers to help them provide the highest level of compassionate and respectful care to families experiencing loss during the childbearing years.” Resources provided include a recorded presentation of Support the Caregiver, debriefing tools, perinatal palliative care sample birth plan, communication strategies, book recommendations, EMR Flowsheet examples, checklists, on-demand presentations from the 2022 AWHONN Convention including Care and Grief Support Following Fetal Diagnosis, Second Victim: The Perinatal Nurse after an Adverse Event, and Reimagining Your Perinatal Bereavement Space.

Prenatal & Infant Care Network Education Resources

The St. Joseph Community Health Foundation and Healthier Moms & Babies co-facilitate a quarterly webinar meeting for anyone in the community interested in providing quality prenatal and infant care services in northeast Indiana. The quarterly meetings focus on strengthening skills and knowledge of prenatal care providers by:

• providing introductions to others engaged in this work in the community for easier referral and coordination of resources;
• offering professional education on new trends, research and best practices in prenatal and infant health;
• sharing updates on local programming and opportunities regarding prenatal & infant services.

Michigan Department of Health’s Free Online Course: Bereavement Training for Maternal and Child Health Professionals

1. Go to My Courses – (mihealth.org).
   2. At the login screen, enter your User ID and password and click Go.
   3. First time users will need to click the Create New User button.
   4. Once logged in, search for the title: Bereavement Training for Maternal and Child Health Professionals.
      
   5. The following continuing education is awarded for successful completion of this course: 1.0 Nursing contact hour, 1.0 Social Work clock hour, and 1.0 Health Educator contact hour. 

Support for the Supporters

Piper’s Purpose

The founder of Piper’s Purpose, Claire, focuses on supporting the individuals and organizations who support families after pregnancy and infant loss. They offer online resources, trainings, webinars, and grief coaching for healthcare professionals, and they offer one-on-one consultation services, peer support circles, on-site resource library, bereavement support resource materials, and comfort items for PAIL families for those who are in bereavement leadership positions (such as hospital Bereavement Coordinators).

Bereavement Photography Resources