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FAQs for Healthcare Professionals

Health professional retreats are 24 hour get-aways for health professionals who care for families experiencing perinatal loss. They generally run from 12:00noon on day 1 to 12:00noon on day 2. There are 3 goals for the retreats: education, self-care, and team-building.

We would love to offer a retreat to your staff! Most retreats will be for an individual facility or organization to improve the team-building and brainstorming activities. Nurses, physicians, midwives, nurse practitioners, social workers, ultrasonographers, clergy, funeral directors, and more are welcome. Contact us to help us plan one for you!

Contact us with any perinatal loss questions and we will do our best to connect you with a researcher or expert in that area!

Our medical advisors are well-respected professionals from around the world who have special interest in perinatal loss. They include obstetricians, nurses, researchers, mental health professionals, neonatologists, midwives, and more. To read their bios, visit our medical team

We would be happy to provide our education materials for your patients free of charge.  Please contact us and let us know which ones you’d like and how many.

Materials currently available include:

  • Partnering for Prevention: Information for Expectant Parents
  • Stillbirth
  • Miscarriage
  • Caring for Yourself
  • Father’s Grief
  • Grandparent’s Grief
  • Sibling’s Grief
  • How Friends and Family Can Help
  • Pregnancy After a Loss

We recommend expectant families be counseled about the risks of stillbirth as any other potential poor outcome of pregnancy. You can use the recent articles about stillbirth in the media as acknowledgement that they may have heard about this topic or that it does happen. Have an honest discussion about what is known and not known about stillbirth, which stillbirth risk factors are present during this pregnancy, how you plan to monitor and address those risks, and how you would like them to contact you.

Empower your patients to call your office or be seen immediately for any concerns. Many women report that they delayed contacting their provider because they didn’t want to seem paranoid or their concern wasn’t on the list of concerning symptoms.

We recommended explaining that mom is the best monitor for this pregnancy. Every baby and every pregnancy are different. Encourage mom to get to know this baby’s normal behavior and patterns. If any changes occur or she has a feeling that something isn’t right, she should be seen immediately.

For women who want to count kicks, we recommend identifying how long it takes baby to make 10 movements. Do this throughout the pregnancy to identify the baby’s norm. If baby is suddenly much more or less active than this norm, mom should be seen immediately.

Kick counting is controversial because a specific number of kicks in a set amount of time has not been identified as normal or abnormal. However, it has been well documented that mothers noticing a significant change for this baby can be indicative of fetal distress.

Absolutely! We encourage all to attend and learn about emerging topics in stillbirth prevention and how we can all work together for that goal! Visit Stillbirth Summit [link]for more information.

  • Don’t rush. Take time to sit with them.
  • Answer any questions they have honestly. If you don’t know, it’s ok to say that.
  • Tell them you’re sorry.
  • It’s ok to show emotion.
  • Make sure your staff knows about the situation before their postpartum visit.
  • Follow-up with them in the weeks and months after the delivery.
  • Our support materials are available for you to use with your patients free of charge.
  • If you have specific questions or needs for a family, please contact us and we will do our best to help.
  • Our research library has access to dozens of papers on this topic [link]
  • The Stillbirth Summit [link] is a wonderful event where you can hear emerging research on perinatal loss and interact with other professionals and researchers
  • Visit our page of Resources for Health Professionals or for Families
  • Sign up for our newsletter – we frequently post updates or highlight new research
  • If you have a specific topic you’re interested in, let us know and we will do our best to provide an expert or researcher for as education session in your area
  • We are available to families experiencing perinatal loss. They may contact our Support Line – available throughout the United States – that is staffed by certified grief counselors who have personal experience with perinatal loss.
  • We can also connect your patient with a peer support companion – someone who has had a similar experience and can provide hope and support as someone who has been in their shoes.
  • We have blankets, burial gowns, and other items for families wanting something special for their baby who has died. Contact for information.

You and your staff are also welcome to use our Support Line to process any emotions you may be experiencing.

We will do our best to support any family. Please contact us to determine what options are best for a specific family.

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