Perinatal Bereavement
Conway Regional's Perinatal Bereavement Program offers a personal, long-term approach to serving those whose lives have touched by the tragic loss of an infant during early pregnancy, stillbirth, or during the the first few months after birth.
The staff of the Conway Regional Women's Center know that such a loss can be devastating without support. This is why the Conway Regional Perinatal Program focuses on the unique needs of individual families. We understand that cultural, religious, and personal diversity affects how each individual responds to feelings of grief and mourning.
Our services include support from conception through the first few months after the infant is born. A full-time bereavement coordinator develops a plan to serve the needs of each family. Our bereavement coordinator is accredited by RTS Bereavement Services and Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support, Inc.
Providing bereavement support is more than just the role of one person, so the obstetrics staff in Women's Center has been trained in techniques that are designed to help parents through the grieving process.
How Perinatal Bereavement Supports Grieving Families
The Perinatal Bereavement Program offers many services, including:
- Assessment of individual needs by bereavement support staff
- Individual funeral and memorial service planning for stillbirth and neonatal death through parents' choice of funeral home
- Patient education materials and appropriate literature packet, including the book, "Mommy, Please Don't Cry" by local author Linda DeYmaz
- Photographs, memory box, certificates of birth, baptism, and/or blessing as appropriate
- Patient choices of postpartum room (maternity or gyn), decisions about care (whether to hold, see, dress infant), and choosing family participation
- Separate quiet room for families and consultation
- Guidance in completing and compliance with state mandated forms related to loss
- Follow-up care for at least one year with cards, phone calls, or office visits with the bereavement coordinator
- Referrals for complicated grief coordinated with patient's obstetrician
- Sibling support with regard to development age (done with parent participation)
- Lending library of books and videos on related topics
- 24-hour availability of trained support staff
- Dealing with anxiety/fears when planning a subsequent pregnancy
For perinatal bereavement support, please contact 501-513-5228.
Healing Wings
Our perinatal support group, Healing Wings, is holding in-person meetings the second Sunday of each month at 3:30 pm in the historic Frauenthal Estate, in the offices of the Conway Regional Health Foundation, located at 631 Western Ave., in Conway.
This is a free community support group to help families who have experienced loss at any stage of pregnancy, stillbirth, or a newborn death. The group offers timely resources and a process to grieve with others on a healing journey. The group is led by a certified bereavement coordinator. For more information, email: [email protected] or call 513-5228.
How to Help
The Perinatal Bereavement Program is funded by the Conway Regional Health Foundation through grants, donations, and memorial tributes. There is no charge to any patient for these services.
While the support and care that is available to grieving families is absolutely free, financial contributions are accepted from the community to help replenish memory boxes, books, and other keepsakes for families. For instance, memory boxes are $40 and a book is $10. For details about directing a private donation to the Perinatal Bereavement Program at Conway Regional, call 501-513-5191, or click here to donate online.
For more information about the bereavement program, contact [email protected].