Told by: Giselle
JOB 5:8
Support for birth. Support for bereavement. Support for you.
Told by: Giselle
JOB 5:8
Certified Birth & Bereavement Doula® serving Adelaide, Australia
email: RebeccaKubenk.SBD@stillbirthday.info
Rebecca Kubenk IBCLC CD SBD CPES
I am a mother of five, three singletons and twins.
My Angel Baby, my second child, was miscarried at twenty weeks gestation.
After the loss of my baby, it took a long time to conceive again both physically and emotionally, with the help of IVF I conceived twins, followed by a naturally conceived singleton.
I began working as a Breastfeeding Counsellor in 2004, with the ABA, after the birth of my fifth child. I went on to become an IBCLC in 2009, assisting mothers in the fourth trimester with breastfeeding and guiding them through decisions after a perinatal loss.
In 2011, I completed a Certificate IV in Doula Services working as a Certified Doula. Meeting several mothers who had also endured a perinatal loss led me to Stillbirthday.
Stillbirthday has provided me with the opportunity to make caring for families more official, and furthered my education on the needs of bereaved families.
I welcome the opportunity to donate my time to support families who are expecting a loss or who have experienced an unexpected loss at any point in their pregnancy.
Certified Birth & Bereavement Doula® serving Wyoming
email: JessicaDube.SBD@stillbirthday.info
Certified in Psychological First Aid
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It is with a heavy heart but with a great anticipation that stillbirthday has accepted Angie Chelton’s official resignation from her role here at stillbirthday as a co-teacher for our doula training.
While Angelique is no long affiliated with stillbirthday, we are reminded of the enormity of pregnancy and infant loss, and the vast and expanding baby loss bereaved community.
While stillbirthday will remain steadfast in being the most accessible, most affordable, most trusted, most comprehensive training to prepare the strongest birth & bereavement doulas possible, we embrace the multiple ways, platforms, and opportunities to shape the minds and hearts of those willing to step into the difficult role of birth & bereavement support, and we recognize that Angie’s decision to provide her services under her own name may be just the right way, just the right program to reach a willing heart who would otherwise not be prepared to follow through with the call to such a role, and we do applaud her for her passion to equip professionals serving the bereaved community. This desire is needed. We are just as surprised as you are by the swiftness of this decision, and we would have loved to have prepared our community for more of a gradual departure, but we are confidently hopeful that her role here at stillbirthday and her exposure to the wealth of information, resources and experiences poured into our community and training has equipped her with the strong foundation of knowledgeable support she will need in her new independent role and that it will show in the love she has to bring and the integrity we hope she demonstrates through her services now and in the future.
Told by: Shanelle
I lost my 15 week old fetus on February 2nd 2013. The entire pregnancy was very rough on me. I got pregnant 3 months after I had my son via C-Section so I already knew that it may be a touch and go pregnancy.
I started spotting about week 9 and went to the ER and saw that the baby was just fine. They told me that the bleeding was due to my uterus. I was told to be on bed rest but with 2 kids(4 months and 6) that was next to impossible.
I continued to spot here and there and on February 2nd, I woke up feeling off.
I laid down on the couch after talking to my boyfriend. He was out of town and couldn’t be with me. I got up and pored blood. I had to call 911 and I was so scared. At the ER they did an ultrasound and saw that the baby was doing great. They were going to let me go home but I told them I was having pain as well as still bleeding. They moved me to a medical/surgical recovery room and left me there.
I knew I was in labor.
I begged and pleaded with the nurses to give me something to stop my labor but they told me they couldn’t. I went through this all alone because my boyfriend was gone and my mom had to watch my kids. I had the baby at 11pm and they just left him there in between my legs. I looked at this perfect baby and felt so much love and so much sadness at the same time.
The doctor cam in right after and had to take me very quickly to the operating room to do a D&C to stop the hemorrhaging. I got out of the OR and felt so empty. My boyfriend came right after and we just held each other. We named the baby MICHAEL and we wanted to take him home.
The hospital would not give the baby to us because he was not 24 week gestation. We got a funeral home to pick up our baby and we had our little boy cremated. I made him a little place in my room and he is there till this day. This experience was one of the worst in my life and I still think about my lil baby boy every day.
Certified Birth & Bereavement Doula® serving Kansas City, Missouri
email: thebeautyoftheirtinywings@gmail.com
email: meganmcfarland.sbd@stillbirthday.info
Certified in Psychological First Aid
I am a mother of 5 beautiful children – 1 boy, 2 girls and 2 Angels. I lost my first baby to miscarriage and my 3rd baby to miscarriage as well at 12 weeks. At this point in my life is when I knew that this is what I wanted to do – to be there for other women who have and who are going through such pain as losing a child. I felt so lost and alone and I don’t want any woman to feel that way because you are not alone.
Last year we shared about a mother attaching a little paper note to her candies as a message to reach other mothers at Halloween.
Halloween is in October, still Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month, and instead of being a day that seems to be absent of this awareness, there are ways that we can still bring awareness into the festivities.
Consider the meaning of the candies you choose for your neighborhood trick-or-treaters, and you can bring intention to your gift, without even having to explain it. It can be just a quiet little way that you stand at the threshold of remembering while still engaging in festivities that otherwise could be more challenging to you.
Or, after Halloween is over, could any of these candies you find from others, possibly, be a tiny gift holding a message of encouragement to you?
Kisses – sending kisses to your baby
Hugs – embracing childhood joy
Baby Ruth – baby
Dove chocolates – symbol of dove
Galaxy, Sky bar, Milky Way – the distance of your love
Life Savers – because more awareness can also mean more prevention & because you would if you could
Almond Joy, Snickers or Hershey’s Bliss – happiness and laughter can still be attainable even in darkness and grief
Skittles – rainbow
dark, extra dark chocolate – this journey can be dark but we can discover sweetness
pure dark, special dark – describe your baby as pure and special
Princessa – to describe your baby
SweetTarts, or other “bittersweet” candy – marking the mix of feelings of your journey
Sugar Daddy – perhaps to honor your spouse
U-NO bar – you know your intention, even if it’s subtle
York, or anything peppermint – to remind you of snow, perhaps the magic of snowflakes
Zero bar – zeroes count, a pregnancy loss is still a birthday
Taffy – this journey can be messy
Suckers – something to hold onto
Gummy – our feelings can gnaw
Jawbreakers, Rock candy – this journey can be hard
Gum – breathing, stretching, growing
M&Ms – maybe “mothering my mourning” as in, this journey is a difficult one, but I am learning to give my grief both the permission and discipline that it needs
So, what about you? Do you have a candy to add to the list?
This list in no way endorses a certain candy or company brand; it’s just intended to allow us to get creative and encourage us that we can find special ways to participate in Halloween if we choose to.
It is just profound, the similarities between a person embedded within the womb and a person buried in the earth.
This amazing piece is called “Healing Sleep”.
Which does this represent to you?
The SBD® Doula provides support to families experiencing birth in any trimester and in any outcome.
Here at stillbirthday.info, you can learn about the SBD® Doula.