Prior to Birth

The following resources can provide support prior to the birth of your baby.

You may have heard the words “I’m sorry, but we cannot find the heartbeat.” You may be experiencing the impending birth of your beloved baby not alive. You might have been told that your precious one has a fatal diagnosis. Whatever is happening right now, whatever you have been told about your baby, your situation, or the medical recommendations given, right now, may you take a pause.

Get into some comfortable clothing. Pour yourself a cool glass of water. Take some slow, deep, relaxing breaths.

Right now, you are still pregnant.

And no matter what the next moments, days or weeks may bring, you are still a mother.

And you always will be.

There are tremendous challenges to, but extreme importance in, planning through this journey.

{Start Here}

{Types of Loss} includes many birth situations, including:

miscarriage
stillbirth
diagnosis/anticipatory grief/ NICU
rainbow/live birth

{Gestational Age of Your Baby } (information & photos)

{Birth Methods} explained, including:

first trimester
second trimester
third trimester

{Birth Plans} (real, printable birth plans for every experience)

{Getting Support}

Find Doulas/Photographers (including Stillbirthday Birth & Bereavement Doulas)

{More information and support}

Baby Names
Love Cupboard (physical needs such as clothing for mom or baby)
Emotional/Spiritual Support (including for the dad & surviving children)
Crisis Lines, Books, Websites (some by country)
Information – and guidance – for your Friends/Family
Let your providers know that stillbirthday has resources for them (there are wonderful printable resources for them in our About SBD Doulas page).

Plan ahead and look at the information for :

{During Birth}

{After the Birth}

including Farewell Celebrations (resources, laws, and information for ways to say goodbye)

Read stories from others (and share yours) – just visit the right sidebar, and see them labeled by week and by additional circumstances.

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BIRTH & BEREAVEMENT QUOTES

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She was a genius of sadness, immersing herself in it, separating its numerous strands, appreciating its subtle nuances. She was a prism through which sadness could be divided into its infinite spectrum.

— Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything Is Illuminated

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.

— C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

I am strong.

— January, founder of Birth Without Fear

When someone you love dies, and you’re not expecting it, you don’t lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time—the way the mail stops coming, and her scent fades from the pillows and even from the clothes in her closet and drawers. Gradually, you accumulate the parts of her that are gone. Just when the day comes—when there’s a particular missing part that overwhelms you with the feeling that she’s gone, forever—there comes another day, and another specifically missing part.

— John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany

They say time heals all wounds, but that presumes the source of the grief is finite.

— Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince

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BECOME A DOULA!

Enroll now in the Birth & Bereavement Doula® program!

We onboard enrolled students into the program by email invitation.

After tuition, you can email heidi.faith@stillbirthday.com directly to expedite this step. Alternatively, if you prefer fb communications, you can join us in Admissions.

{Types of Loss} includes many birth situations, including: