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. We are currently working on educational offerings for 2011.
In June 2009, Nora's Fund provided financial support for the June OB/Peds meeting which focused on perinatal loss issues. Pat Schwiebert, RN spoke 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.
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.
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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.
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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 Someone Came Before You, 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.
