Perinatal Bereavement for Spiritual Caregivers: Part I

Recommended for:

• Chaplains, Priests, Pastors and Rabbis
• Parish Nurses and Lay Visitors
• Spiritual Caregivers

Program Goals

After completing this program the student will:

• Increase understanding of Perinatal Bereavement:
  • Infertility
  • Miscarriage
  • Genetic Interruption
  • Ectopic Pregnancy
  • Stillbirth
  • Neonatal Death
• Recognize that grief reactions occur in proportion to the attachment to the pregnancy no the gestation.
• Provide standards and strategies of care.
• Apply grief theory with helpful grief rituals.
• Take home a 30 page caregiver manual and educational certificate.

Program Outline

7:30 a.m.

• Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:00 a.m.

• Welcome and Introduction
• Perinatal Bereavement
• Definition
• Disenfranchised Grief
• Why Does it Hurt So Much?
• Attachment Bonding Theory
• What is Normal?
• Phases of Bereavement
• Facilitating Mourning
• Creating Loving Memories
• Standards of Care:
  • hospitals
  • funeral homes
  • cemeteries

10:00 a.m.

• Coffee

10:30 a.m.

• Application Theory
• Break out Sessions
  • Naming, Blessing and Baptism Ceremonies
  • Saying Goodbye: Funerals Burial, Cremation and Memorial Services

12:00 noon

• Closing

Past Seminar Speakers

• Cofounder of the charitable organization Perinatal Bereavement Services Ontario
• Past Executive Director PBSO
• Staff Nurse, Prenatal Educator for 15 years
• Bereaved Parent (1973)
• Participant-volunteer Windsor Canadian Mental Health Bereavement Program
• Founder and Coordinator of "When a Baby Dies" Bereavement program at Scarborough Grace Hospital
• Counsellor of bereaved parents, facilitator of groups for parents and coordinator of in-service education for health care providers
• RTS Counsellor and Coordinator

Joanne Bunton, Funeral Director

• Funeral Director, Jerretts Funeral Home
• Past Board President, PBSO
• RTS Counsellor and Coordinator
• Volunteer with Toronto Police, Canadian Cancer Society and The Salvation Army including 3 years as a missionary in Zambia.

Janet Siery, RTS Counsellor

• President, Board of Directors, PBSO
• Bereaved Parent 1991 and 1994
• Client Service Volunteer: one-to-one bereaved parent support
• Former Children's Ministry Support Team Coordinator at Community Bible Church, Aurora
• Mother of three