HONORS OCTOBER’S PREGNANCY AND INFANT LOSS AWARENESS MONTH
“Forget Me Not” Flowers, Helpful Toolkits and Memorial Items Help Process Grief after Pregnancy and Reproductive Loss.
SAN DIEGO– The Institute of Reproductive Grief Care and Life Perspectives®, the global leader in reproductive grief care research and education, today announced that it would honor October’s Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month with a series of items designed to help everyone impacted by pregnancy and reproductive loss.
With 1 in 4 pregnancies ending in miscarriage, these, and other types of pregnancy and reproductive losses, impact millions of people each year. Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month is designed to bring these losses to light, give those impacted a way to tell their story and process their loss, and for their loved ones to find ways to help them through it.
“The grief and pain of those impacted by pregnancy and reproductive loss is frequently marginalized and hidden, often unresolved for years – even decades,” said Michaelene Fredenburg, President and CEO of the Institute of Reproductive Grief Care and Life Perspectives. “We’re changing this.”
“Forget Me Not” Flower
As experts on grief after pregnancy loss, we are leading the charge to “Wear and Share” the “Forget Me Not” flower in October. The “Forget Me Not” flower honors those impacted by pregnancy and reproductive loss, raises awareness for the millions of people impacted, and gives those grieving a way to tell their story and process their loss.
“The ‘Forget Me Not’ flower assures those impacted that we are remembering them, and remembering their children with them,” explained Fredenburg. “We encourage everyone to wear a ‘Forget Me Not’ flower in October to show your support, care and compassion for anyone impacted by pregnancy and reproductive loss.”
To make it easy to “Wear and Share,” especially during October’s Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, Life Perspectives unveiled their new “Forget Me Not” Signature Collection of memorial and remembrance items last week. These items, all featuring the “Forget Me Not” flower, support those impacted by pregnancy and reproductive loss. The Signature Collection features jewelry, like pins and bracelets, along with sympathy cards, all featuring the “Forget Me Not” flower. The “Forget Me Not” pins are available as traditional pins and magnetic pins that can be placed on clothes, purses, and, for medical professionals, on ID badges or lab coats. Some of these items are also available on Amazon, too! All proceeds support those impacted by reproductive loss.
Join us in honoring Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month! Follow #ForgetMeNot2021 and #WearAndShare on social media for updates throughout October.
HELPFUL TOOLKITS
“Everyone knows someone who has experienced a pregnancy or reproductive loss,” said Michaelene Fredenburg, President and CEO of Life Perspectives. “Unfortunately, even though we want to support them, most of us do not know what to do or say.”
Are you, or do you know, someone impacted by pregnancy and reproductive loss? Not sure what to say or do? Life Perspectives’ Helpful Toolkits are free resources for anyone who needs help, hope and healing after this unique kind of loss. These toolkits include resources, videos and helpful lists. Special “Helpful Toolkits” are also included just for: women who have miscarried, men impacted by miscarriage, family and friends who want to help, and special toolkits just for healthcare professionals.
Our popular “Top 10” lists are part of the Helpful Toolkits for Everyone:
Top 10 Terrible Things That Caring People Say After Miscarriage and Pregnancy Loss
Top 10 Terrific Things to Say and Do After Miscarriage and Pregnancy Loss
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
Within the Helpful Toolkit for Everyone, and also on the homepage of LifePerspectives.com, is our short video, “You are Not Alone.” This 3-minute video reveals some of the feelings of those impacted by miscarriage, how miscarriage impacts them, and suggestions on how to get started helping yourself – or others – through miscarriage. This video is also available in Spanish.
“Our Helpful Toolkits, Top 10 Lists, videos and ‘Forget Me Not’ Signature Collection are all wonderful ways to learn, show support, and symbolize your care and concern for those impacted by pregnancy and reproductive loss,” said Fredenburg. “And October, during Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, is the perfect time to do this.”
RESOURCES FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS
The words and actions that healthcare professionals use with patients after pregnancy and reproductive loss – especially in the moment of bad news delivery – are remembered forever. Do you know what to say and do?
“In the medical community, there is zero standard of grief care for early pregnancy loss,” explained Fredenburg. “Without a recognized, evidence-based, unified protocol to help healthcare providers offer quality care to patients experiencing early pregnancy loss, the results can be disastrous – to patients and healthcare providers.”
As experts in reproductive grief care training, Life Perspectives remedies this by educating healthcare providers. At the forefront of educating healthcare professionals globally in reproductive grief care, Life Perspectives’ training results in the gold standard of care for patients experiencing reproductive loss.
Resources just for healthcare professionals include:
- Healthcare Professionals’ Helpful Toolkit: Specially designed just for Healthcare Professionals, this Toolkit offers practical resources, tips and links to healing tools to guide your patients through pregnancy and reproductive loss.
- Courses – Earn and Learn: Our live, virtual, and on-demand educational courses help healthcare professionals earn continuing education hours while learning valuable skills to help clients and patients through reproductive loss.
- Research: The latest and most impactful research in reproductive loss is discussed in our guest lecture series “Research Reveals.” Although these events are live, recordings of them are available anytime on our site. One recent event included is “Research Reveals: Grief, Anxiety, Depression, and Trauma: When Couples Experience Infertility,” which can be viewed anytime.This event is now available to view anytime; continuing education credits are available for this, and other, courses.
For more information on Life Perspectives’ courses, certifications, or accreditations, contact us.
REPRODUCTIVE GRIEF CARE CERTIFICATION
Passionate about helping those impacted by reproductive loss? New this year – you can now earn Reproductive Grief Care Certification! This certification is perfect for medical professionals, pregnancy centers, women’s clinics’ staff and volunteers, community leaders and anyone who recognizes the importance of grief care after pregnancy and reproductive loss, and wants to know how to best help those impacted. All of the courses within the Reproductive Grief Care Certification program are available virtually and on demand. This allows for learning at any pace and at any time. Ready to get started? Go to the Reproductive Grief Care Certification for Individuals Certification page within Life Perspective’s Learning System to get started.
OUR VISION
We bring to light the widespread need for help that is faced by the millions impacted by miscarriage and other pregnancy and reproductive losses. We change the way that people think and talk about reproductive loss, and creates traditions that focus on healing, remembrance and hope. We offer a safe place, for those impacted, to receive the support that they need in kindness and without judgement.
ABOUT THE INSTITUTE OF REPRODUCTIVE GRIEF CARE AND LIFE PERSPECTIVES
Institute of Reproductive Grief Care and Life Perspectives® are the global experts in reproductive grief care. We offer education, research, expertise and support after pregnancy and reproductive loss. Our goal is to accelerate the widespread adoption of a reproductive grief standard of care, bringing comfort and hope to millions who are suffering, often alone and in silence.
We provide education and resources to healthcare professionals including hospitals, medical professionals, therapists, social workers and pregnancy centers, as well as community leaders. We are accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and by the State of California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) as a Continuing Education Provider. We are also approved by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and LEPs.
We are at the forefront of creating impartial and impactful research to understand the way individuals process reproductive losses, and to establish global standards for offering compassionate care. We also promote the research of others to better understand grief after reproductive loss and to close practice gaps in medicine.
Additionally, we offer healing resources directly to those who are impacted, including our “Forget Me Not Signature Collection” of sympathy cards, jewelry and comfort boxes, all featuring the “Forget Me Not” flower as a symbol of remembrance and respect. These are available for sale at the shop on LifePerspectives.com. All proceeds go directly to helping those impacted.
Located in San Diego, the Institute of Reproductive Grief Care is also an active campus where organizations and individuals come together for education, research, and healing of grief after reproductive loss. Our new facility features a counseling center, research library, teaching rooms, recording studio, a 400-seat auditorium with remote capabilities and office space for visiting scholars and the team of this growing organization. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. For more information visit ReproductiveGrief.org.