In Today’s Issue:

🔗 The best resources I found this week
📖 Deep dive: Honoring Beliefs and Cultures in Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Death Care
🩷 Self-care moment

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🔗 The Best Resources I Found This Week

🛐 Perinatal Bereavement Rituals: A Quick Reference on Culture and Religion (AWHONN)

🗣️ How do you support someone through loss when you don't speak their language? (Forget Me Not)

🌎 Multicultural Issues in Perinatal Loss (Wiley Online Library)

📖 Deep Dive

Honoring Beliefs and Cultures in Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Death Care

Understanding the many ways that families grieve miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death starts with recognizing how beliefs and traditions shape their experiences. This is not about memorizing rituals, but about cultivating a sensitive, open-hearted perspective—so every family feels seen, heard, and cared for.

Cultural and Religious Sensitivity

The loss of a baby—whether by miscarriage, stillbirth, or after birth—touches on a family’s deepest beliefs about life, death, and meaning. For some, certain rituals, words, or practices are sources of profound comfort. For others, what helps is simply a respectful presence and a willingness to listen.

Is It Appropriate to Inquire About Religious Beliefs?

Absolutely—exploring a family's religious or spiritual beliefs is not only appropriate but is also recommended best practice. Recognizing that every family's grief and rituals are shaped by their beliefs, healthcare professionals are encouraged to sensitively open a dialogue about what matters most to each family. The key is not to assume but to gently ask, using language that respects autonomy and privacy.

For detailed rituals by faith/culture, see the AWHONN Quick Reference Guide

How to Thoughtfully Discover a Patient's Religious Beliefs

Ask open-ended, non-intrusive questions
You might say:

• "Are there any cultural, spiritual, or religious practices or traditions you’d like us to know about as we care for you and your baby?"

• "Is there anything special we can do to honor your family's beliefs during this time?"

Include the family’s support system
If family members or support persons are present, include them in the conversation and allow them the opportunity to share their wishes.

Document and respect wishes
Carefully note any wishes or customs shared, and communicate them with the rest of the care team.

Avoid assumptions
Do not generalize based on race, language, surname, or appearance. Belief systems are deeply personal.

Treat all information as confidential
A patient’s religious or spiritual preferences are private and should be respected with the highest level of discretion.

The Benefits

Understanding and honoring religious or spiritual preferences can:

• Enhance trust between families and care teams.

• Reduce secondary trauma or distress during a profound loss.

• Ensure that well-intended care doesn't inadvertently cause harm or offense.

Tips for Approaching This Conversation

• Approach with humility and openness, making it clear there is no expectation or requirement for specific rituals—only a genuine wish to support what is meaningful for the family.

• Provide options: Offer support for rituals, privacy, clergy, or memory-making, but never impose.

• Use inclusive language: Refer to the baby by name and follow the family's lead with terminology.

When a Family Declines to Share

Some families may not wish to discuss their beliefs or may prefer privacy. In these cases, respect their wishes, provide a supportive environment, and offer ongoing opportunities to share at their own pace.

Data from AWHONN

AWHONN has published an outstanding guide here (I also added it to the links section above). Here are two screenshots from the guide that break down the major religions in the US as the demographics associated.

👋 That’s a Wrap!

Before you go: Here are ways we can help your hospital

We offer bereavement boxes to give as gifts to those who leave the hospital after a miscarriage, stillborn, or infant death. Reply to this email “Sample” to get a free sample sent to your hospital.

What we prioritize:

1. Tools for hospitals to create a bereavement experience for families to begin their grief journey

2. Educating nurses with modern bereavement standards and continuing education.

3. Helping hospitals build a foundation of trust and support, so bereaved families feel seen and cared for—now and in the years to come.

These boxes were born out of our own personal losses including Jay’s (CEO) 15 years of experience working in labor and delivery and witnessing time and again how the hospital experience can profoundly shape a family’s grief journey, for better or for worse.

Until next week,

Trina and Jay
Co-founders of Forget Me Not