Exciting Event Returns to Share Groundbreaking Research and Best Practices on Reproductive Grief Care.
SAN DIEGO (Jan 18, 2023) – The Institute of Reproductive Grief Care, the global leader in reproductive grief care research and education, today announced the keynote speaker for its upcoming 2024 Symposium.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
The Institute’s 2024 Symposium keynote speaker will be Shantae Rodriguez, PA.
Shantae Rodriguez, PA, serves as the Director of Medical Services for Soundview Pregnancy Services in Long Island, NY and as a Physician Assistant with the New Life Community Health Center in Queens, NY. She has also served as an emergency medicine provider in several Long Island Hospitals. Shantae has spent more than a decade working specifically with survivors of human trafficking, sexual assault and intimate partner violence.
Her clinics are Certified in Reproductive Grief Care with the Institute, and her entire team of nurses, social workers and advocates have also been individually certified.
“We’re thrilled to have Shantae Rodriguez provide our keynote presentation at our 2024 Symposium, said Michaelene Fredenburg, President and CEO of the Institute. “No one better understands the impact of the Institute’s programs and our value and importance to healthcare professionals.”
PA Rodriguez agreed, adding: “Knowing you have a safe place where your individual voice and experiences are heard and accepted, valued and not judged, shared and not hidden, creates the most beautiful of communities where grace, mercy, compassion and hope can facilitate healing.”
ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM
The Symposium will take place at the Institute’s San Diego headquarters on March 22, 2024. The event brings together professionals from across the academic, healthcare and business sectors, to learn and share groundbreaking research and best practices related to reproductive grief care.
“It was more than just a learning experience – it was an enriching experience.”
“Our inaugural Symposium was record breaking,” said Dr. Michaelene Fredenburg, president and CEO of the Institute of Reproductive Grief Care. “We were honored to have many large healthcare systems in attendance.”
The 2023 Inaugural Symposium included:
- 200 professionals, students and community workers
- 30 states and 5 countries represented
- Doctors, nurses, midwives, therapists and social workers
- 120 attendees at the Institute’s national headquarters in San Diego
- 80 virtual attendees
SYMPOSIUM THEME
The theme for the 2024 Symposium is “Community: A Dynamic Approach.”
“Community unites us,” said Fredenburg. “It allows us to build a shared sense of trust and connection.”
“A place to talk openly about this sensitive subject.”
The 2024 Symposium participants will include experts from academia, healthcare and mental health, along with community leaders, to discuss groundbreaking research, best practices and a dynamic approach to community in reproductive grief care.
SYMPOSIUM SPONSORSHIPS
Would you like to impact reproductive grief care? The Institute is accepting personal and corporate sponsorships for the Symposium. Sponsors will help the Institute expand education, research and awareness related to pregnancy loss and reproductive grief, and to bring comfort and hope to millions. Please email Alex Anaya for more information.
“We feel like we are part of a community now.”
THE INSTITUTE’S VISION
We bring to light the widespread need for help that is faced by the millions impacted by miscarriage and other reproductive losses. We change the way that people think and talk about reproductive loss, and create 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
The Institute of Reproductive Grief Care is the global authority on reproductive grief care. It offers education, research, expertise and support after reproductive loss without religious or political affiliation. Its goal is to accelerate the widespread adoption of a reproductive grief standard of care, bringing comfort and hope to millions who often grieve alone and in silence for years or decades.
The Institute’s online courses are accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. The Institute of Reproductive Grief Care is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider #17434. It is 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 maintain responsibility for our program and its content. The Institute also certifies healthcare professionals and others in reproductive grief care.
The Institute offers books, memorial items, and other healing resources directly to those affected, including the “Forget Me Not Signature Collection” of sympathy cards, jewelry and comfort boxes. The national campaign, promoting the “Forget Me Not” flower as a symbol of reproductive loss remembrance, won the grand prize of “Nonprofit Communications Campaign of the Year” by Public Relations Daily in 2022. All Institute proceeds from sales of “Forget Me Not” items go directly to helping those impacted. The Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. For more information, see the Institute’s introductory video and visit ReproductiveGrief.org.