Birth Ease Loss Support

When we experience pregnancy and infant loss, there is a myriad of emotions and feelings that we may go through. Because baby loss is often shrouded in silence, it is uncharted territory. You may question if what you are feeling is normal.  In this episode, Michelle explains the shared experiences we can have when grieving the loss of our  child as well as our hopes and dreams. 

Resources:

https://www.postpartum.net/get-help/in-an-emergency/

Connect with Rev. Michelle:

Website:  BirthEaseServices.com /loss-support

Facebook:   Birth Ease Baby Loss Support

Instagram:   @birtheaselossssupport

LinkedIn:  Birth Ease Michelle Smith

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

Michelle has the privilege to have a conversation with Diana Kelley, the director of Infants Remembered In Silence © (IRIS) a 501(c)3 Nonprofit organization that she founded in 1987, following the full-term stillbirth of her son. Together they discuss how the care parents experiencing baby loss receive has become more compassionate throughout the years and the extreme value of having someone to sit with us in our grief and give space for the power of silence. Diana shares sage advice for bereaved families, how IRIS's services have grown and evolved over the last 33 years, and IRIS's project to invite cities across the nation to light up buildings, statues, and monuments on October 15th in honor of Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Day. Thank you cities of St. Cloud and Orlando, Florida for your support!

We invite you to share photos of your cities remembering our babies gone too soon. We would be honored to have you tag us on Facebook and Instagram @birtheaselosssuport and @Infants Remembered in Silence 

"Well, it used to be that people thought that you're not going to remember if you don't get to see, hold, and touch. We discovered that wasn't real. Then we discovered that people forget, and even if they can't communicate with you very well, their body still remembers. They still know themselves that this is when my child died passed away. And I think that is something that is really hard to comprehend.  But at a certain point, your thinking changes from being, "I am never going to be able to forget this. This is a huge impact on my life." to things changing to where you're afraid you're going to forget it and then it becomes your mission to make sure others don't forget." —Diana Kelley

About Diana Kelley:

Diana Kelley uses her personal and career experiences to help grieving parents through their birth process and in the years of grieving that follow the death of a child. Diana provides grieving parents with the support they need when their life seems unfair and more than they can handle.  As a bereaved parent herself, she knows how grief can affect every aspect of one’s life, as well as the lives of their loved ones and friends.

Diana became involved in Childbirth Education following the birth of her first child in 1981. By 1984 she was a Certified Childbirth Educator working in her local hospital with hundreds of families each year and training/certifying new instructors. In 2012, after 31 years, she left the organization to expand her teaching and certifying instruction with Infants Remembered In Silence © (IRIS) a 501(c)3 Nonprofit organization that she founded in 1987, following the full term stillbirth of her son. 

Today IRIS services include: Bereavement Support Materials and Burial Clothing Sets designed by Diana and several other IRIS volunteers. (These Clothing Sets fit infants from 10 - 42 Gestational weeks and include matching blanket and hat, along with everything needed to work directly with the child in the hospital and funeral home settings). IRIS offers Support Group Gatherings, Special Events including the October 15th Memorial Service at the IRIS Office - in front of an Angel weeping over an empty cradle – a bronze, life sized statue, arranges for countless buildings, monuments, bridges, etc. to be lit for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day,  Holiday Service of Remembrance and more. These supplies and countless other resources, including the book, Sharing the Tears by Diana Kelley, are available on the IRIS website. 

Diana services as the executive director of IRIS. She lives in Faribault MN along with her four surviving children and one grandchild.  

Connect with Diana Kelly:

Email: [email protected]

Infants Remembered In Silence © (IRIS) website: www.irisRemembers.com

FB Business Page:  https://www.facebook.com/InfantsRememberedinSilence

FB Infants Remembered In Silence Private Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/163068716993

Angel of Hope Central Florida: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AngelofHopeCFL

Website: https://angelofhopecfl.wordpress.com/

Connect with Rev. Michelle:

Website:  BirthEaseServices.com /loss-support

Facebook:   Birth Ease Baby Loss Support

Instagram:   @birtheaselossssupport

LinkedIn:  Birth Ease Michelle Smith

Grief, of all kinds, requires self-care. And, for families experiencing pregnancy & infant loss, the need is even more acute. In this episode, Michelle shares self-care suggestions and tips recommended by grief experts. She shares the benefits of practices such as prayer and mediation, massage and bodywork, acupuncture, and yoga for the bereaved.  Michelle also includes holistic remedies for navigating grief and loss, discussing essential oils, homeopathy, and Bach Flower Essences.  

Resources:

https://www.birtheaseservices.com/self-care

Homeopathy:  https://www.boironusa.com/

Bach Flower Remedies:  https://www.bachremedies.com/

Essential Oils:  https://www.originalswissaromatics.com/

Grief Support Organizations:

https://www.postpartum.net/get-help/in-an-emergency/

https://stillbirthday.com/

https://sistersinloss.com/

https://rtzhope.org/

https://www.irisremembers.com/

https://www.2020mom.org/pregnancy-loss-infant-death

Connect with Rev. Michelle:

Website:  BirthEaseServices.com /loss-support

Facebook:   Birth Ease Baby Loss Support

Instagram:   @birtheaselossssupport

LinkedIn:  Birth Ease Michelle Smith

Michelle has a beautiful and healing conversation with The Radical Rabbi, Elisheva (Emily) Brenner. Emily shares her own journey of perinatal loss, which she describes as the tsunami of her soul. She retells the sacred wisdom story that helped her create a Divine Reframe and quiet the storm within her own heart. Emily explains the foundational five-step program she teaches, based on the journey of the Israelites in the desert, which can assist anyone in weathering the most difficult of circumstances. As a divorce lawyer, a psychologist, and a rabbi, Emily shares insights that can help couples to traverse the extreme grief of losing a child and support any other children they may have that are also grieving as well. Michelle and Emily discuss how even in our deepest sorrow, in our deepest pain, we can still find peace. We can still find moments of joy. (This episode originally aired on The Birth Ease Podcast  on October 23, 2019)

“You are living in this world for a reason and your journey as a parent has a reason.” — Rabbi Elisheva

About Rabbi Elisheva:

What do you get when you combine a veteran divorce lawyer, a psychologist, and a rabbi?...The Radical Rabbi!!! Rabbi Elisheva (Emily) Brenner is known for the rich multidisciplinary perspective she brings to dealing with life’s problems. As the host of The Radical Rabbi podcast and creator of the Radical Rabbi Online Academy, Emily encourages every person to embrace the unique psycho-spiritual journey that is his or her life so they can find meaning, purpose, freedom, self-empowerment, and authenticity.

Connect with Rabbi Elisheva:

website: theradicalrabbi.com

Twitter: @myradicalrabbi

Linked In: radicalrabbi

Instagram: @radicalrabbi

Facebook: @radicalrabbi

Connect with Rev. Michelle:

Website:  BirthEaseServices.com /loss-support

Facebook:   Birth Ease Baby Loss Support

Instagram:   @birtheaselossssupport

LinkedIn:  Birth Ease Michelle Smith

Michelle defines grief, mourning, and bereavement. Shock & denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance are a part of the framework of the stages of grief. These stages help define what we may be feeling.  Yet, they are not definite steps on a linear timeline as we move through grief. We travel in and out of these stages and revisit them, often in no particular order. Michelle shares the four phases of bereavement: shock and numbness, searching and yearning, disorganization, and reorganization that we can experience as it relates to baby loss. Understanding these phases of bereavement provides helpful guideposts along the intense journey of grieving the loss of your baby. 

Resources:

https://www.postpartum.net/get-help/in-an-emergency/

https://grief.com/the-five-stages-of-grief/

Connect with Rev. Michelle:

Website:  BirthEaseServices.com /loss-support

Facebook:   Birth Ease Baby Loss Support

Instagram:   @birtheaselossssupport

LinkedIn:  Birth Ease Michelle Smith

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

 1 in 4 women have experienced pregnancy or infant loss. Because of the silence surrounding the loss of a child, it can cause the necessary grieving to be a lonely and isolating experience. Even if you, as the listener, were blessed to have never personally experienced perinatal loss, the chances are quite high that you know someone that has. The silence surrounding this type of loss can leave us unsure of how to really support grieving families, which can sometimes lead to well-meaning comments inadvertently cutting a grieving parent to the core. Michelle shares best practices and helpful ways to support families experiencing the devastation that perinatal loss brings.

“It is time to break the silence surrounding pregnancy and infant loss so that families are no longer grieving alone.” —  Michelle Smith

References:

Handouts and materials from Gary Vogel, LMT and Bereavement Services: Resolve through Sharing

Connect with Michelle Smith:

Website:  BirthEaseServices.com /loss-support

Facebook:   Birth Ease Baby Loss Support

Instagram:   @birtheaselossssupport

LinkedIn:  Birth Ease Michelle Smith

Thank you for listening!
 

Grief can be lonely and isolating, especially for those experiencing pregnancy and infant loss. At times, it may even feel as if the sorrow might consume you. Michelle Smith, Certified Grief Counseling Specialist, Birth & Bereavement Doula/Chaplain, and host of The Birth Ease Podcast, holds a much-needed space for grief, remembrance, and your unique journey of healing through conversations with grief experts, the sharing of stories of loss and love, and guided meditations. Welcome to a place where your baby and you can feel seen, heard, and held.  

"My intention with this podcast is to create a space where you feel less alone in this journey because there are those walking beside you and those that are ahead of you, pausing to hold you up in those moments when the grief feels as if it may swallow you completely.  Please, be gentle and kind to yourself. Remember, there is no right way to grieve the loss of your baby or loved one."— Rev. Michelle A. Smith

Connect with Michelle:

Website:  BirthEaseServices.com /loss-support

Facebook:   Birth Ease Baby Loss Support

Instagram:   @birtheaselossssupport

LinkedIn:  Birth Ease Michelle Smith