Displaying items by tag: reproductive health

Academy Courses on Reproductive Grief Care

Academy Suite of On-Demand Courses on Reproductive Grief Care

We offer six on-demand courses for pregnancy help professionals to equip your team with the essential skills and knowledge to provide compassionate, evidence-based care for clients experiencing reproductive loss.

In Partnership with RGC logo white

 

 

 

A Collaboration for Powerful Grief Care Training

Our collaboration with the Institute of Reproductive Grief Care brings expert training right to your organization through Heartbeat Academy.

On-Demand

Each course is self-led, so you can take them on your schedule.

100% Online

Complete each course from any device, anywhere in the world.

Discount Eligible

Heartbeat affiliates receive 20% off! Click the learn more button to see your discounted price.

Product Code 1138

Bad News Delivery

Gain practical tools and language that help you respond with confidence and compassion when patients face reproductive loss. Learn how you can transform moments of profound grief into opportunities for healing, support, and compassionate care.

$30
1
CEU
Product Code 1134

Grieving Well

To better assist our clients and patients and to protect against vicarious trauma, it is helpful to gain a deeper understanding of our own grief history. This course offers self-guided reflections and exercises that will broaden our appreciation of the uniqueness of our own and other’s grief journey. Obstacles to grieving, grieving styles, practical ways to memorialize loss, and the ability to grow through loss are also covered as we explore how to grieve well.

$30
Certificate Eligible
Product Code 1251

Individual Certificate: Reproductive Grief Care

Reproductive Grief Care Certificate for Individuals is for those committed to offering the highest standard of compassionate care to those impacted by reproductive loss. A certificate is awarded to those who complete the Institute of Reproductive Grief Care specialized track of 8 online courses. After completion of these courses, individuals will have a foundational proficiency in reproductive grief care, be able to serve as an example of compassionate care, and be a resource for those in their community who have been touched by reproductive loss.

$495
1
CEU
Product Code 1135

Invigorating Compassion

Compassion fatigue and burnout often deprive healthcare providers of altruistic motivations and attributes that initially attracted them to caregiving. Aside from the recommendations for a healthier lifestyle, little has been offered to assist those in caring occupations to nurture their empathetic resiliency and enduring passion for helping others in need. This course helps care providers reclaim their compassionate zeal by uncovering factors that can derail empathetic caregiving; it also provides practical applications that are beneficial both personally and professionally.

$30
1
CEU
Product Code 1137

Reproductive Grief Care for Health Professionals

Reproductive loss, including miscarriage, abortion, stillbirth, and infertility, can be devastating, and healthcare professionals are often at the front lines of responding to those experiencing reproductive grief. Reproductive Grief Care for Healthcare Professionals is an introduction to standards of grief care for physicians, nurses, and other medical providers. This course equips learners to recognize the impact of reproductive loss, respond effectively both individually and organizationally, and help patients begin to cope with their loss experiences. Participants will learn a variety of effective communication strategies, cultural and spiritual competency skills, and options for memorialization to positively impact the grief trajectory for the bereaved.

$60

 

 

 

Upcoming Live Class

Click here for information on our next Reproductive Grief care for Pregnancy Help Organizations live class.

More Resources on Pregnancy Loss

 

 

A Pathway to Healing: Reproductive Grief & Loss

abortion changes you
by Mary Peterson, Housing Consultant

I recently had the opportunity to share dinner with Michaelene Fredenburg, creator of AbortionChangesYou.com. While our conversation covered a wide range of topics, it was filled with insights about grief, loss, and the healing journey.

Here's a few that have implications for maternity homes:

1. Language matters.

In Michealene's experience, she has found the term reproductive loss and grief  to find more resonance with a widespread audience than would other terms we commonly use with clients. By using reproductive loss and grief to describe the suffering of abortion, people intuitively understand that the loss resembles the pain associated with miscarriage, stillbirth, and infertility.

"When I am talking to therapists and other health professionals from a variety of backgrounds and belief systems,” Michaelene said. “I have seen the light blub go off as they make the connection between the grief of miscarriage—which is commonly acknowledged—and the loss of abortion."

Resources from
Abortion Changes You

Changed: Making Sense of Your Own or a Loved One’s Abortion Experience

By conveying the real experiences of real people, Changed teaches providers to sensitively and compassionately communicate with others about abortion as well as offering interactive suggestions for those affected by abortion to begin the healing process.

Grief & Abortion: Creating a Safe Place to Heal

Grief & Abortion introduces abortion in the context of human grief and loss. It is a guide for counselors and leaders who walk with clients on their healing journey and is a natural companion to Changed.

 

2. Every person's journey of healing is different.

The experience of a woman who is grieving in the days following an abortion varies significantly from the grief of an abortion carried in secret for 15 years. The models of healing programs vary accordingly, often having been developed to address the needs that were becoming evident.

Because of the pro-life movement’s awareness of this dynamic over the years, those affected by abortion can choose between a variety of wonderful programs with different formats, models of healing and philosophical foundations.

Our role in the maternity home setting is to help a woman find the most meaningful program or method in her particular stage of grief.

3. Healing can't be coerced or forced.

Representing a time of safety and community, the context of the maternity home may be an ideal environment for entering into deep healing work. But, a woman must have the freedom to face her grief according to her own timeline.

To prevent adding additional trauma, our role should always be information and invitation.

Resources such as AbortionChangesYou.com use a self-directed approach with online tools and a moderated sharing format to give women from various backgrounds an opportunity to begin exploring their grief.

Resources like these can often bridge the gap between unacknowledged grief and the road to healing, which, we know, often takes place within the setting of a maternity home.

“At Abortion Changes You, we understand ourselves as a gateway, or a starting place," Michaelene said.

 

 

 

 

Suggested Action Items:

Since the process of healing from reproductive loss and grief is at the same time essential and unique for each woman, here are some helpful tips to use in your maternity home ministry, starting today.

  • Hang a sign near the house computer, inviting the mothers to check out AbortionChangesYou.com.

  • Check in with your counselors about how they assess grief and loss. Do they include abortion? Do they include other reproductive losses?

  • Revisit the language of your program in regards to abortion recovery—a.k.a. reproductive loss and grief. Is it time to consider new language?

  • Have a volunteer create or update the list of resources available in your area to support healing for reproductive loss and grief.

For more information about Abortion Changes You, visit www.AbortionChangesYou.com or www.CreatingASafeplace.com.