Resources for Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Loss
We started out the month of October sharing the personal thoughts and experiences of people who have been through a miscarriage or infant loss. Today on the blog we are sharing resources for individuals, partners, friends, and support people if they or their loved one has experienced such a devastating loss.
Our culture often tries to put a bandage on grief and offers to “fix it.” Author Megan Devine says in her book It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok, “Grief no more needs a solution than love needs a solution.” It’s with this in mind that we share this list of resources, acknowledging that the loss of a baby is not one that can ever be “fixed,” “gotten over” or “moved on from” but that the experience can be witnessed and supported by loved ones and community as people grieve.
Online/In-person Support Groups
Compassionate Friends online and in-person support for loss of a child, at any time, for any reason
DC Pregnancy Loss- DC Pregnancy Loss and Infant Death Support Group, virtual meetings, monthly
Embracing Grace: Coping with the loss of an infant Northern Virginia Christian resource
L.A.M.P.S- Life After Miscarriage, Perinatal loss, and Stillbirth Fairfax, VA support group
MIS Share (Miscarriage, Infant Loss, and Stillbirth) Falls Church, VA support group
MISS Foundation Counseling, Advocacy, Research, and Education for families experiencing the death of a child
Postpartum Support Virginia grief and loss resources
Postpartum Support International postpartum depression, anxiety, PTSD, grief, and trauma resources
Star Legacy Foundation HIPPA (privacy compliant) video support groups
Local Therapists
Dr. Emma Basch has advanced training in infertility, perinatal loss, and birth trauma, Washington, DC
Emily Souder LCSW, mom and psychotherapist who help clients find their way through:
Birth Story Processing
Anxiety
Depression
Panic
Perinatal loss
Feeling like they’ve lost who they were
Feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and full of anger
Greater Washington Therapy Julie Bindeman, Psy-D, Bethesda, MD
Heather McMillian, LPC- Telemental Health for Virginians, specializing in infertility, perinatal loss, postpartum depression and anxiety, and trauma
Stillbirth/ Infant Loss Photography
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep free gift of professional portraiture
Books
Meeting the Needs of Parents Pregnant and Parenting After Perinatal Loss by Joann M O’Leary and Jane Warland, “develops a helpful framework, which integrates continuing bonds and attachment theories, to support prenatal parenting at each stage of pregnancy. Giving insight into how a parent’s world view of a pregnancy may have changed following a loss, readers are provided with tools to assist parents on their journey.”
Coping with Infertility, Miscarriage, and Neonatal Loss: Finding Perspective and Meaning by Amy Wenzel “Here, well-known psychologist Amy Wenzel applies the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy a thoroughly-researched approach for treating mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and stress-related disorders to the experience of reproductive loss. She offers strategies for coping with loss and provides a step-by-step guide to reengaging in life. With warmth and compassion, she helps readers journey toward healing.”
Sunshine After the Storm: A Survival Guide for Grieving Mothers by Alexa Bigwarfe “book of hope, love, and support for other parents suffering pregnancy and infant loss, or even the death of an older child. She contacted other writers known in the grief and loss community, and invited them to participate.”
Birth Story Held for Loss: A guide for reflecting on your fertility experience, miscarriage, abortion, TFMR, stillbirth, and infant loss This book exists to give your story of perinatal loss all the space it needs — to breathe, to shift, to be. As your guide, I will be walking with you as you read and write, but this is your space, and I know you have the voice to fill it.
Trainings for Doulas and Birth Attendants
Amy Wright Glenn’s Holding Space for Pregnancy Loss online and in-person trainings
To Labor Perinatal Loss & Traumatic Grief: The Gift of Full Presence for Birth Attendants
