Perinatal loss, grief, and bereavement is not a focus in most medical and nursing curricula. Consequently, health care professionals are often ill equipped to provide the specialty care parents require following perinatal loss. Listed below are several resources for professionals wishing to learn more about perinatal loss, grief, and bereavement. Comments, questions, and requests are always welcome at projectpoppyseed@yahoo.com.
Toolkits
Project Poppyseed is dedicated to supporting healthcare professionals providing care to those who are experiencing perinatal loss. The following toolkits have been developed as a result of Project Poppyseed’s original research and supported by perinatal loss literature. Healthcare professionals are welcome to utilize all toolkits and encourage to reach out with questions for additional support.
Follow-up Care Toolkit – The Perinatal Loss Follow-up Care Toolkit guides healthcare professionals in providing follow-up care to families for one year after a perinatal loss experience. The toolkit contains a follow-up care timeline, guided scripts, and recommended assessments.
Labor & Delivery Perinatal Bereavement Toolkit – Under Development.
Perinatal Loss Trauma Informed Care Toolkit – The Perinatal Loss Trauma Informed Care Toolkit contains resources which may be adapted to healthcare facilities, including a Perinatal Loss Trauma Informed Care policy, trauma informed communication recommendations, and resources for healthcare professionals to develop a trauma informed environment.
Neonatal End-of-Life Symptom Management – Neonatal end-of-life symptoms can be challanging to address. This evidence-based resource is a tool for clinicians in assessing, recognizing, and managing neonatal end-of-life symptoms to enhance overall quality of life.
Education and Training
The Institute of Reproductive Grief Care provides accredited continuing education for health care professionals caring for parents following reproductive loss. In-person and online courses are lead by a certified instructor and several courses are offered on-demand.
The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) was designed by nurses for nurses to improve to improve palliative care. The Pediatric/Perinatal ELNEC course equips nurse with knowledge and skills necessary to support families experiencing perinatal loss. The course covers important topics such as communication, grief, bereavement, legal and ethical issues, cultural and spiritual considerations, pain and symptoms management, and postmortem care.
Resolve Through Sharing helps healthcare professional provide compassionate care to families experiencing perinatal loss.
Palliative Care Programs & Resources
The number of perinatal palliative care programs and resources has grown over the last ten years. While not every healthcare system has perinatal palliative services available, below is a list of programs which may be helpful in supporting families:
Purposeful Gift helps parents find opportunities for organ donation.
Forever Footprints provides support, education, and resources to health care professionals and families following perinatal loss.
Professional Organizations
The Perinatal Loss and Infant Death Alliance (PLIDA) supports professionals caring for families experiencing perinatal loss. PLIDA is an excellent resource for health care professionals and provides professional development, education, and networking opportunities.