Healing Through Hope: Creating Strong Support Networks for Parents after a Perinatal Loss

Transcription

1 Healing Through Hope: Creating Strong Support Networks for Parents after a Perinatal Loss Van Vleck House and Gardens May 24, 2017 Montclair, NJ Presenters Sherokee Ilse, BA, is the author of 18 books and booklets mostly on the subject of early losses and healing, including her first and most popular self-help book for parents and families, Empty Arms: Coping with Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Death and a co-authored book on miscarriage (Miscarriage: A Shattered Dream). As a parent advocate, the founder and president of Babies Remembered, and a co-founder of Loss Doulas International and Baby Loss Family Advisors, Ms. Ilse works hard to substantially improve the care of families at the time of loss and beyond. One of the early experts on perinatal loss, Ilse was one of the founders of a national non-profit pregnancy and infant loss center which co-lead the drive resulting in October as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. Ms. Ilse s passion began after having three babies who died too soon (Marama early miscarriage, Brennan full term stillborn son, and an ectopic pregnancy Bryna), along with two living sons. Lindsey Wimmer, CPNP, CPLC, is the Executive Director of Star Legacy Foundation. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN and a Master of Science degree in pediatric nursing from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner and recently taught pediatrics, public health, obstetrics, and leadership in the nursing department at St. Catherine University. Her clinical experience includes over 11 years practice in a primary care setting and 5 years in an emergency care setting. Ms. Wimmer serves on the advisory panel for the Fetal Infant Mortality Review under the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, is an editor for the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and is certified in Perinatal Loss Care. Lindsey and her husband, Trent, are the parents of Garrett who was stillborn and 3 living children. Jill Wodnick, MA, CLC, LCCE, is a Consultant for Montclair State University s Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health, a doula and childbirth educator. She is a national speaker on improving maternal infant health with a focus on reducing racial disparities in birth outcomes. She has been part of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women's Global Prenatal Initiative as well as on local and statewide programs for improving maternity care. Erin Truxillo, Denise Cante, and Jennifer Brown, are co-founders of Pockets of Light, Inc., a non-profit organization which offers support to those who have experienced a pregnancy or infant loss. Ms. Truxillo, Ms. Cante and Ms. Brown are bereaved parents who now offer support and facilitate support groups using a peer-support model in Northern New Jersey.

2 Adam Yoskowitz and Canaan Himmelbaum, are co-founders of The Hudson Shea Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing couples with hope after the loss of an infant to miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death. The Hudson Shea Foundation partners with hospitals and research institutions to fund medical research and bereavement support groups. Trudy Heerema, MSW, LCSW is a Social Worker with the Hudson Shea Foundation. She established and facilitates a men s bereaved group in Northern New Jersey. Ms. Heerema is also a medical social worker for Valley Health system at the Child Psychiatry Center and currently facilitates support groups for postpartum women, couples experiencing perinatal loss, and trauma of NICU experience. Domenica Comfort, has been working as a photographer for the Pelham Weekly as well as in her own business, Domenica Comfort Photographs, since She creates images for families reminding them of the connection they have with each other and photographing special events in their lives. She is the Area Coordinator and volunteer photographer for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, providing remembrance photography to parent(s) who have/will experience the loss of their newborn/stillborn child(ren). Catherine Vieira, BSN, CCE, is a Perinatal Mental Health Coordinator for the Partnership s Postpartum Depression program, Mrs. Catherine Vieira provides follow-up support by telephone to women at risk for, or already experiencing postpartum depression, including women who have suffered a perinatal loss, and facilitates connection to the appropriate mental health care services. Ms. Vieira has completed RTS Bereavement Training and RTS Coordinator Training. Carly Ryan, MA, is the Program Manager for the Partnership s Fetal Infant Mortality Review Program, an evidence- based process which examines fetal and infant deaths, determines preventability, and engages communities to take action. Ms. Ryan coordinates multiple local, regional, and statewide quality improvement and public health programs including to improve service systems and resources for women who experience a perinatal loss. Target Audience Healthcare professionals working with perinatal women, such as physicians, nurses, social workers and community members interested in providing compassionate care and support to bereaved families. Learner Outcomes: Participants will be able to incorporate the evidence based strategies and information discussed into their professional practice, in order to provide compassionate care, support and resources to patients and clients who have experienced a perinatal loss. Course Objectives: Explain the 5 Principals of Perinatal Loss Patient-Centered Care and give two reasons how healthcare providers can enhance care given to bereaved families List three things to do and say which can help parents reframe how they make decisions and are 'present' with their baby List three potential advantages of saline bath Describe how the Baby Loss Family Advisor/Loss Doula paradigm can supplement the care clinic/hospital staff give to families at the time of news and the loss, as well as over time Identify three evidence-based interventions for families experiencing a perinatal loss

3 Describe three priorities of families experiencing a perinatal loss and the resources available Describe terminology related to self-care including mindfulness based stress reduction, compassion fatigue and work life balance Discuss the physiology of the relaxation response, and why it needs to be practiced Recognize the importance of community support, with a focus on peer support groups, and how it differs and should be a supplement to mental health professional support Discuss the short-term and long-term benefits that a consistent support program for grieving couples offer Identify the unique bereavement process of men and the resources available Demonstrate how to provide a remembrance photo for the parents suffering the loss of their baby Delineate the services offered by the Partnership's Postpartum Depression Emotional Health Phone Support Program Describe New Jersey's Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program Disclosures Neither the speakers nor the planners have a vested interest in the content of this continuing education activity to disclose. Successful Completion / Awarding of Certificate To receive contact hours for this continuing education program, the registrant must sign in and sign out on the sign in sheet, attend the entire program and complete an on-line evaluation. By the day after the program, a link to the program evaluation will be ed to all attendees. The survey will be open for one week. At the end of one week, all those attendees who submitted surveys will receive their certificates via . Continuing Nursing Education Contact Hours This program has been awarded 5.25 contact hours. The Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by NJSNA, an accredited approver, by the American Nurses Credentialing Center s Commission on Accreditation. Provider # P194-1/ Provider approval is valid through January 31, Accreditation refers to recognition of continuing education activities only and does not imply approval or endorsement of any commercial products discussed / displayed in conjunction with the educational activity by the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey, NJSNA or ANCC. Accessibility This location is handicap accessible. Please let us know if you will need ADA accommodations when you register or call Irina Polanco-Ventura. Registration General Admission: $35 Partnership Member Hospital Staff: $25 Registration will close one week prior to the event. Cancellations

4 Although registration fees are non-refundable, they are transferable. To transfer a registration, please contact Irina Polanco-Ventura at iventura@partnershipmch.org or x155 no later than a week prior to the event. Grievance Policy: Any attendee with a complaint or grievance should contact the Partnership s Perinatal Mood Disorder (PMD) Program Manager, Irina Polanco-Ventura, via . Once received, the complaint will be acknowledged. It will then be reviewed and discussed by Partnership staff consisting of the PMD Program Manager and the Director of Education, Amy Gole, in a timely manner. A satisfactory solution will then be offered to the participant in writing. The attendee may register complaints with the approval entity with an option to appeal to the Board if displeased with the results of the process described above. To file a grievance, please contact Irina -Polanco-Ventura at iventura@partnershipmch.org Questions? Contact Irina Polanco-Ventura at iventura@partnershipmch.org, or x 155. Agenda 8:00 am 8:30 am Registration and Light Breakfast 8:30 am 8:45 am Welcome Remarks Amy Gole, RNC-MNN, Ed.M., NE-BC, Director of Education, Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey 8:45 am 10:45 am Empty Arms: Reframing Intentions, Strategies, and Teamwork to Enhance Care of Bereaved Families Sherokee Ilse, BA, Founder and President, Babies Remembered Co-founder, Loss Doulas International and Baby Loss Family Advisors, Oro Valley, Arizona 10:45 11:00 am Break 11:00 am 12:00 pm Sitting with Suffering Lindsey Wimmer, CPNP, CPLC, Executive Director, Star Legacy Foundation, Eden Prairie, Minnesota 12:00 pm 12:45 pm Lunch 12:45 pm - 1:00 pm Routed and Resilient: Self-Care Practices Jill Wodnick, MA, CLC, LCCE, Consultant, Montclair State University s Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health Montclair, New Jersey

5 1:00 pm 1:30 pm Importance of Connecting Bereaved Parents to a Peer Support Group during the Perinatal Period Erin Truxillo, BA, Co-founder and Executive Director Denise Cante, BA, Co-founder and President Jennifer Brown, MA, Co-founder and Vice-President Pockets of Light, Inc., Montclair, New Jersey 1:30 pm 2:00 pm Offering Hope to Grieving Men Adam Yoskowitz, Co-founder and Canaan Himmelbaum, Esq., Co-founder and Director Trudy Heerema, MSW, LCSW, Social Worker The Hudson Shea Foundation, Mahwah, New Jersey 2:00 pm 2:30 pm Creating Lasting Memories Domenica Comfort, Photographer Now I lay Me Down To Sleep, New York, New York 2:30 pm 3:00 pm Break 2:40 pm 3:10 pm Maternal Mental Health and Bereavement Support Services in Northern New Jersey Catherine Vieira, BSN, CCE, Perinatal Mental Health Coordinator, Perinatal Mood Disorder Program Carly Ryan, MA, Program Manager, Fetal Infant Mortality Review Program Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey Session Descriptions: Empty Arms: Reframing Intentions, Strategies, and Teamwork to Enhance Care of Bereaved Families, will provide an overview of the 5 principles of perinatal loss patient-centered care (S.A.F.E.R. model of care) and will help staff view their role to help them become more confident and comfortable with what to say. Attendees will be able to use specific strategies to empower patients to re-frame and refocus themselves in the time after receiving the news their baby will die or has died. In addition, she will introduce the newer paradigm of team-centered care that invites Baby Loss Family Advisors/Loss or Bereavement Doulas to help families have continuous support, guidance and advocacy after the news is given, during the hospital stay, and when at home in the early days. Sitting with Suffering, will discuss the difficult task of providing care to families who are grieving the death of a baby. Most health professionals do not receive training on caring for perinatal deaths until they are on the job, making the situation that much worse for a family and more stressful for the health professional. Topics will include communicating with bereaved individuals, what families need, evidence-based interventions for perinatal loss bereavement care, resources available and self-care.

6 Routed and Resilient: Self-Care Practices, will discuss the use of mindfulness and breath work for specifically for health care professionals working in difficult situations such as perinatal loss. She will describe tolls for self-care while focusing on stamina and endurance through challenging times. Importance of Connecting Bereaved Parents to a Peer Support Group during the Perinatal Period, will discuss the unparalleled benefits of a peer support groups following a perinatal loss along with the uniqueness of perinatal bereavement. The feelings of isolation that typically stem from this traumatic experience will be described as well as the necessity for parents who experience a loss to create relationships that could result in lifelong support. Finally, the benefits of encouraging couples to seek support together will be identified. Offering Hope to Grieving Men, will discuss the stereotypes of men's grief and the unique characteristics that come with this experience. Mr. Yoskowitz and Mr. Himmelbaum will also share their own stores of loss and hope and discuss how they created a support group for men who have experience a perinatal loss. Creating Lasting Memories, will speak about the services provided by Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep volunteer photographers who will take appropriate pictures of the babies as a special remembrance for the families. She will also demonstrate and instruct participants on how to take these photos when a NILMDTS photographer is not available. Maternal Mental Health and Bereavement Support Services in Northern New Jersey, will discuss two programs of the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey. The first, The Emotional Health Phone Support program (for women experiencing loss) and secondly, the Fetal Infant Mortality Review. The Emotional Health Phone Support Program provides for telephone follow up to the Mom once she is discharged from the hospital. When needed, the Mom is linked into mental health services or referred to Mom's support groups. The FIMR program offers grieving families services that include a home visit/interview, and provide the families with community resources such as perinatal bereavement groups. The purpose of this program is to better understand why these tragedies happen and working with families who have suffered a loss in an effort to reduce fetal and infant mortality. This program is generously supported by a grant from the New Jersey Department of Health