Remembrance Ceremony: July 19, 2009

Nora's Fund and the Providence Newberg Medical Center's Perinatal Loss Committee will hold a remembrance service on Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 7 pm in the PNMC chapel. A reception will follow in the Healing Garden, site of the Nora Madelyn Fund memorial butterfly sculpture. The ceremony will be for families in our community who have lost a child at any age or stage of pregnancy.

Our ceremony will begin in the PNMC chapel and will be officiated by our Chaplain, Rev. Gregg Selander. During the service, for those families who desire and who have RSVP’d, we will read aloud the names of their babies in honor of their memory. Following the ceremony, we will host a dessert reception in the hospital courtyard, the Healing Garden, where a butterfly sculpture memorializes children lost before their time.

Families who were patients of The Birth Center at the time of their loss in approximately the past 3 years will receive invitations. Other PNMC patients and members of the community at large are also welcome to attend.

RSVP by July 9 to noramadelynfund@yahoo.com with your name, the number who will attend, and the name of your baby to be honored during the service.

The Nora Madelyn Fund for Infant and Child Loss

The Nora Madelyn Fund for Infant and Child Loss provides support and resources to bereaved families who have experienced pregnancy loss or the death of a child.

The fund was created under the auspices of the Providence Newberg Health Foundation by bereaved parents, Jeff and Raina, after the death of their newborn daughter, Nora Madelyn, in July 2002.

"Nora’s Fund is not only a way to honor our daughter’s memory, but a way to give back to the community for the kind and respectful care we received at Providence Newberg Hospital both during and after Nora’s short life,” says Nora's parents.

Nora's Fund provides support and resources to bereaved families to assist them in dealing with the loss of a child at any age or stage of pregnancy. If your child has died, we are very sorry for your loss. We know we can't take away your pain, but we can offer understanding and support.

The fund also provides resources and education to medical staff and care providers who support and care for bereaved families in the hospital or clinic setting as well as in the community at large. This includes training for caregivers in pregnancy loss and the grieving process, as well as self care tools for their own issues that may arise from their work.

In addition, one of the founding goals of the Nora Madelyn Fund was to install a memorial in the Providence Newberg Medical Center's healing garden, providing a place of reflection, comfort and hope. A glass butterfly sculpture was installed in the healing garden in spring 2006. A remembrance ceremony will be held at the memorial in summer 2009.

We appreciate your support of the Nora Madelyn Fund through a donation or participation in a fundraising event.

How Nora's Fund Helps Bereaved Families

Remembrance Service: July 19, 2009, 7 pm

Nora's Fund and the Providence Newberg Medical Center's Perinatal Loss Committee will hold a remembrance service on Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 7 pm in the PNMC chapel. A reception will follow in the Healing Garden, site of the Nora Madelyn Fund memorial butterfly sculpture. The ceremony will be for families in our community who have lost a child at any age or stage of pregnancy.

Our ceremony will begin in the PNMC chapel and will be officiated by our Chaplain, Rev. Gregg Selander. During the service, for those families who desire and who have RSVP’d, we will read aloud the names of their babies in honor of their memory. Following the ceremony, we will host a dessert reception in the hospital courtyard, the Healing Garden, where a butterfly sculpture memorializes children lost before their time.

Families who were patients of The Birth Center at the time of their loss in approximately the past 3 years will receive invitations. Other PNMC patients and members of the community at large are also welcome to attend.

RSVP by July 9 to noramadelynfund@yahoo.com with your name, the number who will attend, and the name of your baby to be honored during the service.

***
Resources for Patients of the Providence Newberg Birth Center

A founding goal of the Nora Madelyn Fund for Infant and Child Loss is to provide funding for the resources and comfort items used by the Providence Newberg Hospital Birth Center staff in caring for bereaved parents. The hospital's Perinatal Loss Committee oversees these resources.

Nora's Fund provides to families who experience a loss in the Providence Newberg Birth Center:

***
Memorial in the Providence Newberg Medical Center Healing Garden

One of the founding goals of the Nora Madelyn Fund for Infant and Child Loss was to construct a memorial in Providence Newberg Medical Center's healing garden to provide a place of reflection, comfort and hope for parents who have lost a child at any age or stage of pregnancy.

We are pleased to announce that the memorial is completed and has been installed. Portland artist Greg Lewis created the glass butterfly sculpture. A memorial plaque has been placed with the artwork.

A dedication ceremony led by hospital chaplain Rev. Gregg Selander was held July 22, 2006. View photos of the memorial and dedication ceremony.

We are so grateful to everyone who has supported Nora's Fund; because of you, the community has a permanent memorial to remember our children. We hope that it provides comfort and hope to families for many years to come.

For those who wish to view the memorial in person, Providence Newberg Medical Center is located just off Hwy. 99W at 1001 Providence Drive in Newberg, Oregon. Enter the healing garden through Ruth's Cafe. The memorial is on the eastern edge of the garden.

Additional landscaping around the memorial has now been installed. The plantings include a pink dogwood and Love roses, one of the parent roses of Fire and Ice (or "Nora's Rose").

***
Brief Encounters

The Nora Madelyn Fund donated two dopplers to the Brief Encounters pregnancy loss support group. Brief Encounters is a non-profit, non-sectarian support group for parents whose babies have died before, during, or after birth. At informal, mutually supportive meetings in the Portland, Oregon area, bereaved parents and their families share their stores, discuss issues that arise from pregnancy and infant loss, and remember their children. There are support groups for pregnancy loss and miscarriage, pregnancy interruption for medical reasons, subsequent pregnancy, fertility and adoption.

The dopplers will be used by members of the subsequent pregnancy group to help to ease their concerns about their babies. For more information about Brief Encounters, to receive a newsletter or for a schedule of support group meetings, call (503) 99.8006 or visit their Web site.

***
TEARS Foundation

The Nora Madelyn Fund has provided a $500 grant to the Oregon Chapter of The TEARS Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps bereaved families pay for funeral expenses.

TEARS also offers support groups for bereaved parents that focus on scrapbooking or other memory projects. This Peer Companion Support Group meets on the last Sunday of each month from 3 pm - 5 pm. It is held at the Sherwood YMCA Conference Room, Sherwood, OR. Nora's Fund has assisted with the start-up expenses to purchase tools and supplies for these memory projects.

***
Newberg Public Library

The Nora Madelyn Fund donated $250 to the Newberg Public Library for the purchase of grief and loss resources specifically for children. The grief tote includes books, CDs, DVDs and a cuddly teddy bear. The materials cover the concepts of death and grief, including sibling loss and pet loss. The materials are for preschool through elementary school age children; older children and parents will also find the materials helpful.

Nora's Fund also donated $250 to the Newberg Public Library to purchase books on grief, bereavement, pregnancy loss and subsequent pregnancy for their adult collection.

***
Sherwood Public Library

The Nora Madelyn Fund donated $500 to the Sherwood Public Library for the purchase of grief and loss resources for their adult and childrens' collections.

***
Newberg Ministerial Association

The Nora Madelyn Fund donated copies of the book, Pastoral Care in Pregnancy Loss, to members of the Newberg Ministerial Association and to the Providence Newberg Hospital volunteer chaplains to aid them in their care of bereaved families in our community. If you are a member of the spiritual care community who would like to receive this book courtesy of Nora's Fund, please contact us.

How Nora's Fund Helps Medical Staff & Community Care Providers

Education & Support for Medical Staff & Community Care Providers

A founding goal of the Nora Madelyn Fund is to provide funding for perinatal loss education for Providence Newberg Medical Center staff and community care providers, including clergy and emergency response personnel. The fund allocates resources for PNMC Birth Center nurses, including the hospital's perinatal loss coordinator, to attend education sessions.

In June 2009, Nora's Fund is providing financial support for the June OB/Peds meeting which will focus on perinatal loss issues. Pat Schwiebert RN will speak to the provider's role in caring for patients who are experiencing pregnancy loss and their babies.

In February 2007, RTS Bereavement Services presented their nationally recognized perinatal loss conference in Portland. Participants studied the grieving process and learned interventions, guidelines, and communication skills to provide consistent and mindful care to bereaved families.

In addition, the perinatal loss coordinator attended training on how to develop and implement a perinatal bereavement program, with emphasis on conflict management, teaching strategies and leadership self-assessment. This training allowed the perinatal loss coordinator to recommend refinements to the excellent perinatal loss program currently in place at Providence Newberg Medical Center.

Nora's mother, Raina, participated in a parents' panel during the conference, an invitation she was honored to accept in Nora's memory. Four bereaved parents shared stories of their babies and their experiences with medical professionals.

Nora's Fund is planning to host a similar perinatal loss conference in 2010.

In April 2006, Nora's Fund sponsored two half-day workshops on perinatal loss and grief care issues. These well-received sessions were led by Pat Schwiebert RN and Jillian Romm RN LCSW. Over 50 nurses, hospital and medical clinic staff, and community care providers, including clergy and emergency response personnel, attended the workshops.

***
Perinatal Loss & Grief Care Workshop: DVD Available

In April 2006, Nora's Fund sponsored two half-day workshops on perinatal loss and grief care issues. These well-received sessions were led by Pat Schwiebert RN and Jillian Romm RN LCSW. Over 50 nurses, hospital and medical clinic staff, and community care providers, including clergy and emergency response personnel, attended the workshops.

A DVD of this workshop is available to medical professionals and care providers upon request. A donation to Nora's Fund is appreciated but not required. Please contact the Providence Newberg Hospital Birth Center at (503) 537-1555.

***
Birth Center Retreat

The Nora Madelyn Fund for Infant and Child Loss provides education and resources to the Providence Newberg Hospital's Birth Center staff to support them not only in their care of bereaved parents, but also in their "self-care," as they experience their own emotional responses to these losses.

In April 2006, Nora's Fund provided support for a retreat for Birth Center staff. The retreat focused on "self-care" for the nurses, as well as other issues relating to care for bereaved families and babies who have died before, during or after birth.

The retreat was led by two recognized experts in the field of perinatal loss and grief: Pat Schwiebert RN and Jillian Romm RN, LCSW. Ms. Schwiebert is a founder of the Portland-based Metanoia Peace Community, the umbrella organization which houses Brief Encounters, a local support organization for bereaved parents of pregnancy and infant loss. She is the author of several books on grief, including We Were Gonna Have a Baby But We Had an Angel Instead, When Hello Means Goodbye and Tear Soup. Copresenting with Ms. Schwiebert was Jillian Romm RN, LCSW, an assistant professor in ObGyn at OHSU. Among her special interests are counseling and caring for grieving families, including those experiencing perinatal losses. Ms. Romm is the former president of the North American Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics & Gynecology.