Here at stillbirthday, we validate that our path to healing is a journey, one in which we travel through many seasons to find, and within each season, there must be enough hope discovered and excavated from the darkness to inspire us to continue forward.
Even upon realizing our healing, our journey continues, because you see, healing is our journey, not the destination.
Stillbirthday Journeys is a supplemental application to modern bereavement support groups for pregnancy and infant loss.
Here are a few foundational points that make Stillbirthday Journeys so exceptional:
- We validate that many aspects of parental bereavement are universal, however deserve to be approached more individually.
- We validate that couples experience bereavement individually but also can experience bereavement as a unit.
- We validate that parenting surviving and/or subsequent children does not forfeit the rights of bereavement.
- We validate that surviving and/or subsequent children also may have grief.
- We honor the concept of learning how to parent our children who are not alive.
- We realize that conventional support groups have many limitations and we’ve designed Journeys to address the needs of bereaved families as well as those who lead support groups for them.
Journeys Leader handbook (Journey Guide) contains information in one half from a mother’s perspective, and information in the second half from the father’s perspective.
Each half contains segments relevant to:
- self growth
- relationship with spouse
- relationship with deceased baby/ies
- perspectives and quotes specific to the age designations outlined below
- relationship with living child/ren
- relationship with other loved ones/public
Journeys Participant handbook contains all of the information above, plus:
- activity space
- journal space
- resource space
Co-created by Heidi Faith and Stephanie Nalley SBD, and co-supported by our spouses, Stillbirthday Journeys is not a support group. It is a tool to enhance your support group or to get one started.
About Stephanie Nalley SBD:
I am a bereaved mother. I am a survivor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss. My son, Bentley Charles Nalley, was born still on October 18, 2011 due to an umblical cord accident. My world was turned upside down that day, but little did I know that saying “hello” and “goodbye” to our firstborn son was going to change lives. Shortly after burying Bentley, I knew that I wanted to help that next mother, that next father. I wanted to be able to assist people through this journey in life that is so hard. I started a local support group, and I began to become heavily active within the community planning local events to remember our babies. One thing in our loss that always sticks out to me is that my doctor explained the importance of support for both my husband and I together as a unit. In April 2011, Blake and I got married, and we gave birth and buried Bentley in October 2011. I did not want to lose my marriage. Support individually is enormous, but support in a marriage is completely necessary to survive. I completed the Stillbirthday Doula training, and I am currently working to achieve my Chaplain through Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. My goal is to be Bentley’s hands and feet. I never knew the impact that Bentley’s life truly would have on me and my husband’s lives, but it has touched far beyond just him and I. My passion is to help others handle their pain and heartache in any way that I can. We stand in these losses togethe–united.
Preparing for the Journey:
We are seeking 3 married couples from each community:
- 1 married couple who has experienced birth and bereavement in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy
- 1 married couple who has experienced birth and bereavement in the remaining weeks of pregnancy
- 1 married couple who has experienced neonatal to toddler death
Each couple will serve as Stillbirthday Journey guides in their community.
Guiding on the Journey:
Stillbirthday Journey guides will receive:
- awesome opportunities to get to know the creators of Journeys and our vision of making it so revolutionary.
- exclusive content that outlines important seasons in our journeys.
- ways to integrate the Journeys platform into your existing group or how to get a group started on Journeys.
- resources and knowledge to make the Journey in your community an extraordinary one.
Stillbirthday Journey guides will:
- engage their group in introductory, couple-centered goal planning.
- branch the group into mothers and fathers, with goals unique to each parenting and partnering role.
- re-introduce the group in couple strengthening work at the end of the season.
- reveal how these Sacred Circles of mothers and fathers create an Analemma.
- close the season with tips and tools for each individual and each couple to continue on their healing journey.
As the men’s circles and women’s circles come together, it forms the infinity symbol. These will be the symbol of our Journeys!
Becoming a Stillbirthday Journey Guide:
Simply complete the form below and you’ll stay current on our Stillbirthday Journeys materials and information.
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Registered Guides:
- Winthrop, WA, USA – infant-toddler – Smith’s
- Sacramento, CA, USA – infant – toddler – Tillman’s
- Santa Fe, NM, USA – infant-toddler – Lujan’s
- Middleburg, FL, USA – loss in later weeks of pregnancy – Rodabaugh’s
- Lomira, WI, USA – infant-toddler – Peters’
- Australia N.S.W. – infant-toddler – Burchell’s
- Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA – infant-toddler – LaTorre’s
- Calgary and surrounding area/Alberta/Canada – Birth and loss in the later weeks of pregnancy. – Dowan’s
- Sarasota, FL, USA – Birth and loss in the later weeks of pregnancy. – Thinnes’
- Elizabethville, PA USA – Birth and loss in the later weeks of pregnancy. – Farrow’s
- Butler, TN, USA – Loss of newborn or toddler. – Johnson’s
- Browning, Montana USA – Birth and loss in the later weeks of pregnancy. – Barth’s
- Reed City , Michigan US – Birth and loss in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. – Brock’s
- Chandler, AZ, USA – Birth and loss in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. – Dunbar’s
- Blandinsville/Macomb, IL USA – Loss of newborn or toddler. – Thrapp’s
- Erie/Pennsylvania/USA – Birth and loss in the later weeks of pregnancy. – Richen’s
- Derry,pa,usa – Birth and loss in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. – Green’s
- Jackson, Michigan – Birth and loss in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. – Scott’s
- Ramstein, Germany – Birth and loss in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. – Reiter’s
