Bereavement and Lactation
Presented by Kimberly Wyse, MA, CLC�October 2023
October is pregnancy and infant loss month
STAR Legacy Foundation
Miscarriage
Most often occurs before 12th week of pregnancy before lactation is likely (80% of losses)
10-20 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage.
A still birth is the death of a baby before the moment of birth.
In Michigan this is defined as after 20 weeks gestation
Infant Death
Typically defined as mortality of an infant before a year old
SIDS/SUIDS account for 38.4 deaths/100,000 live births.
This is any unexpected infant death
March of dimes website 10/2023
PREVENTION EFFORTS are widely spread but grief and grieving supports are less widely known.
Postpartum Support International
Grief Support
How to support grieving families
Ask about their baby
Set aside time to remember baby� Aknowledge the loss and the change in life trajectory
Offer support
Offer to do house chores� Be specific they may not feel comfortable with an open offer
Encourage them to share their story
AVOID
Saying you can try again� It’s for the best
You will heal
Refer the family to supports
Counseling can be a huge help
Books for support
Invisible String - Patrice Karst
We were going to have a baby but had an angel instead - Pat Swiebert & Taylor Bills
Unexpecting - Rachel Lewis
The memory box - Joanna Rowland & Thea Baker
Lactation Happens
Milk!
What to do with the milk?
Many organizations suggest donating the milk to help cope with the loss such as HMBANA
They actually go so far as no screening required prior
Have a manual for supporting grieving families
Milk!
What to do with the milk? Cont
Person to person sharing
Eats on feets has 4 pillars of safe milk sharing
Informed choice� Donor Screening� Safe Handling� Home Pasteurization
Why?
Why encourage mothers to pump if they are interested
Acknowledges baby did exist
Maintains connection with their baby
Reduction of PPD
Many moms interviewed felt a “need” to pump
Support
A quick
Our Story
Blessed!
I didn’t know what I didn’t know and had very low supply
Elliott had a dairy sensitivity and struggled on formula
I had a friend at work who knew someone whose baby was in NICU and she was donating the milk weekly.
We were given the milk and became pretty dependent on it.
Fed it via SNS
Her baby passed. But she kept pumping
Every week she gave it to 3 families for a year.
She stopped pumping because she was pregnant and welcomed a baby just around when my second was born
She once thanked me but I should be thanking her. Now that I have lost a baby and been blessed with a few more I cannot imagine how hard it would have been