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More than 100 parents, children, relatives and BWH staff came together last month for the fifth annual Service of Remembrance to support families who have experienced perinatal loss.
The service enables families to return to the hospital to remember their babies and meet other families who have experienced similar loss. It is also a time to reunite with their care providers, which brings many parents back annually.
“Many people keep coming back year after year for this service,” said Sandra Harmon, BSN, RN, assistant nurse manager of the NICU, who co-chairs the Perinatal Bereavement Committee with Leslie Thurmond Morette, BSN, RN, nurse in-charge of the Center for Labor and Birth. “We had so many of our parents who attend annually show up this year with newborn infants and young children that we set up a makeshift stroller park outside of Carrie Hall.”
During the service, families share personal reflections. This year, one mother read a letter she wrote to her infant son who passed away. Two other couples shared poems, one that was meaningful to them and another that was written for the couple by a friend. “The reflections shared by these families were so poignant and touching,” Harmon said.
Attendees watched a slideshow of photos created by Laurie Bittmann of Chaplaincy and listened to the music of harpist Nancy Kleiman. Each family received a star on which they could write their child’s name, a message or any sentiment they wished. They placed the stars on a blue felt board imaging the heavens during the ceremony.
“We had little stars, too, so that the siblings could participate,” Harmon said.
BWH nurses, physicians and others came in to support and reunite with the families during the ceremony and the reception that followed in the Peter Bent Brigham Rotunda.