Intended for nurses, doctors, midwives, social workers, chaplains, and hospital support staff, this guide gives caring and practical advice for helping families grieve properly after losing a child at birth. As the special needs of families experiencing perinatal loss are intense and require more than just the bereavement standards in most hospitals, this handbook offers tips and suggestions for opening up communication between caregivers and families, creating a compassionate bedside environment, and helping with mourning rituals. Encouraging continual grief support, these specific companioning strategies can help ease the pain of this most sensitive situation.

The death of a baby is one of the most painful experiences anyone can imagine. This practical, compassionate text guides professionals in providing the best possible care through the physical and emotional pain of a pregnancy loss from early miscarriage to neonatal death, enabling patients and their families to grieve. Written by two professionals with extensive experience in the field, the book inspires confidence for those confronted with this challenging task. It focuses on common issues that inhibit good care and addresses the traditionally difficult topics. Healthcare staff assisting patients during this time often require support of their own and this is also addressed with constructive, inspirational approaches and ideas for professional training. Perinatal Loss: a handbook for working with women and their families offers insights, information and support for managing pregnancy loss for all professionals and students including nurses, sonographers, midwives, doctors (including obstetricians and general practitioners), chaplains and morticians. 'This is an important and warmly welcomed book which thoroughly endorses the key aims of Sands (Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Society). In particular, it demonstrates a forceful commitment to improving care for bereaved families whilst acknowledging the difficult task that staff undertake when caring for them. This handbook encompasses all aspects of perinatal loss, giving due care and attention to the many different circumstances and exploring the thoughts and feelings which are experienced when a baby dies at any gestation.' From the Foreword by Julia Gray

The death of a baby is one of the most painful experiences anyone can imagine. This practical, compassionate text guides professionals in providing the best possible care through the physical and emotional pain of a pregnancy loss from early miscarriage to neonatal death, enabling patients and their families to grieve. Written by two professionals with extensive experience in the field, the book inspires confidence for those confronted with this challenging task. It focuses on common issues that inhibit good care and addresses the traditionally difficult topics. Healthcare staff assisting patients during this time often require support of their own and this is also addressed with constructive, inspirational approaches and ideas for professional training. Perinatal Loss: a handbook for working with women and their families offers insights, information and support for managing pregnancy loss for all professionals and students including nurses, sonographers, midwives, doctors (including obstetricians and general practitioners), chaplains and morticians. 'This is an important and warmly welcomed book which thoroughly endorses the key aims of Sands (Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Society). In particular, it demonstrates a forceful commitment to improving care for bereaved families whilst acknowledging the difficult task that staff undertake when caring for them. This handbook encompasses all aspects of perinatal loss, giving due care and attention to the many different circumstances and exploring the thoughts and feelings which are experienced when a baby dies at any gestation.' From the Foreword by Julia Gray

Partly a counseling model and partly an explanation of true empathy, this handbook explores the ways companionship eases grief. For caretakers who work with grieving people or for friends and family just hoping to stay close, 11 tenets are outlined for mourner-led care. These simple rules call for understanding another person's pain, listening with the heart rather than the head, not filling up every minute with words, respecting confusion and disorder, and relying on curiosity rather than expertise.

Coping with Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Infant Death.

Based on Dr. Wolfelt's unique and highly regarded philosophy of "companioning" versus treating mourners, this self-care guide for professional and lay grief caregivers emphasizes the importance of taking good care of oneself as a precursor to taking good care of others. Bereavement care is draining work, and remaining empathetic to the painful struggles of mourners, death, and dying, day in and day out, makes caregivers highly susceptible to burnout. This book demonstrates how caring for oneself first allows one to be a more effective caregiver to others. Through the advice, suggestions, and practices directed specifically to caregiving situations and needs, caregivers will learn not to lose sight of caring for themselves as they care for others.

[This] is a story of love, hope, and healing. There are 18 chapters covering intimate aspects of a young life ending and how those who remain behind can grieve in such a way that they go on living. This book is a collection of clinical wisdom, theoretical knowledge and models of care that can continue to tell the story and change cultures of care. As a palliative care nurse I am honored to write this Foreword and to be included in these pages with the authors who are truly pioneers in perinatal and pediatric bereavement. --Betty Ferrell, PhD, RN, MA, FAAN, FPCN, CHPN From the Foreword This is a definitive, state-of-the-art resource on the vital pieces of perinatal and pediatric palliative care. Culling the most important new evidence-based research and findings from scholars and practitioners worldwide, it links theoretical knowledge and clinical practice to fill a gap in current information. The text is distinguished by its provision of different and even competing perspectives that address the complexities of the tragic human experience of perinatal, neonatal, and pediatric death and the nurses and other healthcare providers who provide care to those involved. Contributors disseminate new theoretical approaches and reexamine current concepts in light of new research. They discuss the theoretical underpinnings of perinatal and pediatric bereavement, examine current thought on the dimensions of loss, deliver evidence-based clinical interventions, and offer the perspective of grieving families regarding their experiences and needs. The book provides both novice and experienced scholars of perinatal and pediatric bereavement with a strong foundation of current knowledge. With clinical interventions derived from research, the book will enhance the expertise of clinicians caring for bereaved women and their families. It Includes case studies, interview excerpts, graphics and review questions to illustrate key points, and summaries demonstrating how theory is translated to clinical practice and informs research. Chapters provide objectives, references, and suggestions for additional study. The book is also a valuable study aid for students preparing for the Pediatric Loss Certification exam. Key Features: Provides high-level but accessible information from renowned scholars in perinatal and pediatric loss Disseminates the newest theoretical frameworks that can be used to create interventions and develop research Includes case studies demonstrating how theory is applicable to research and practice Facilitates critical thinking with different and even competing perspectives Serves as a valuable resource for Pediatric Loss Certification (NBCHPN) preparation