Foundation funds training to help doctors and nurses provide comfort care for newborns with short life expectancy
Perinatal Bereavement Program is expanding to include Perinatal Palliative Care, helping families navigate the devastating diagnosis of a life-limiting condition
When a family experiences a still birth or the loss of a newborn, our Perinatal Bereavement Ministry team at St. Francis provides compassionate spiritual and emotional support through the most difficult of times. Early detection of congenital anomalies identifies some infants who are affected by life-limiting conditions with a short life expectancy.
For families that receive a devastating diagnosis for their infant either before birth or soon after, a new Perinatal Palliative Care program can improve quality of life by supporting the parents and providing comfort measures for the newborn child.
Thanks to St. Francis Foundation donors, several Bon Secours physicians and nurses received special training at Columbia University's Irving Medical Center and are now equipped to support families with pregnancy and delivery management including:
- Appropriate obstetric care
- Pre- and post-natal consults
- Shared decision-making
- Advance care planning
The team will coordinate comfort measures for the newborn including:
- Bonding time with parents
- Maintaining body temperature
- Relieving hunger or thirst
- Alleviating pain and discomfort