Amplifying Support: Caring for Families After Pregnancy Loss and Proactively Addressing Prevention
Includes a Live Web Event on 10/29/2024 at 11:30 AM (EDT)
Approximately 1/4 pregnant people will experience pregnancy loss and 1/170 pregnancies on average each year end in stillbirth. The stillbirth rate in the US has been stagnant for some time and this is in part due to a lack of efforts at stillbirth prevention due to the fatalistic belief that stillbirth cannot be prevented. A 2018 ACOG article, “Potentially Preventable Stillbirth in a Diverse US Cohort” found that 25% of all stillbirths and 47% at term may be potentially preventable. Black parents are 2-3 times more likely to experience stillbirth than other races. This a health disparity that must be addressed.
Currently, there is no formal teaching for residents, CNM, or medical students about the care of loss families. Doulas are on the front line of emotional care for our patients and some simple tips can help provide bereavement care for patients experiencing pregnancy loss. In this presentation, Dr. Heather Florescue and Dr. Lindsey Wimmer will discuss stillbirth and its causes. They will explore ways that doulas can be at the frontline of prevention by educating their clients and encouraging advocacy when their clients believe that something is wrong and will discuss the care of loss families including ways to improve care and help with the grieving process.
Dr. Heather Florescue
MD, FACOG, Co-Presenter
Dr. Heather Florescue FACOG graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude from the University of Rochester in 2000 and the University of Rochester Medical School in 2004 and completed a residency there as well in 2008. During this time she won several awards for patient care, including being elected to the Gold Humanism Honor. She is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and became board-certified in January of 2010.
Her passion is stillbirth awareness, education prevention, and care of patients who have lost babies during pregnancy or neonatal period. She provides free teaching sessions with bereaved parents all over Rochester to groups of nurses, doulas, PAs medical students, and residents which includes loss parents discussing their experiences. Dr. Florescue has been on local radio and television shows discussing stillbirth awareness and prevention and believes that doulas are essential in spreading awareness of stillbirth, reducing the stigma sharing information to increase the prevention of these losses. She is the medical advisor for Star Legacy Foundation, Push for Empowered Pregnancy, and Count the Kicks. She was recently honored as “Physician of the Year” by the Western NY Perinatal Bereavement Network.
Jen Hamilton
RN, BSN, CEN, RNC-OB
Jen Hamilton is a social media creator from North Carolina who accidentally found herself with over 3 million followers online. She is a wife, a labor & delivery nurse, and a mom and is unafraid of sharing herself authentically which has allowed her to connect with so many people online who crave real. She has been featured in the New York Times, NY Post, Daily Mail, Yahoo, The Sun, and many more. She is a board-certified labor & delivery nurse and is passionate about reducing birth trauma, reducing maternal mortality, and reducing trauma for bereaved families who lose babies perinatally. She has two indoor chickens who wear diapers, named Mayonnaise and Grits, and two little boys who love those chickens named Ellis and Luke. She is married to her college sweetheart, Brian, who is also a nurse.
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