On November 22, 2023, Jacquelyn Russo experienced the devastating loss of her niece, Maria Rosa, who was stillborn over Thanksgiving weekend. Naturally, their close knit family banded together to love and honor her, but due to a skeleton staff over the holiday and lack of resources provided to them, they wished they had more tools to make memory making and bonding easier and accessible.
In the time since Maria Rosa's passing, Jackie, a former nurse at St. Christopher's Hospital in Philadelphia, has found healing and connection to her niece through becoming a perinatal bereavement advocate with Three Little Birds, in addition to collecting donations to develop and distribute the Maria Rosa Memory Kits. These kits include several items to support families through grief and have the tools available to make memories including items for hand/foot prints, items to bathe and groom the baby as well as a special hat or bow and book for families to read to them. These are the same kits that were donated to Cooper University Healthcare in Camden in October. To honor Maria Rosa on her first birthday, Jackie and family made this donation to St. Christopher Hospital's NICU for families facing the loss of their baby to have equitable access to have these special moments with their baby during and after having to make difficult, end of life decisions.
In addition to Maria Rosa's Memory Kits, Three Little Birds is gifting St. Christopher's Hospital our new resources packages with memory making pages (in six languages - English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Haitian Creole and Russian). These pages simplify the process and considerations for decision making and direct families via QR codes to our web site where we are making consistent updates of resources and references. The end user can then use their electronic device to translate the information to the language of their choice. These helps reduce excess printing and resource tracking for providers.
Additionally, the gift includes Perinatal Bereavement Training for eight professionals to work in tandem with Three Little Birds to ensure families still receive access to all services under this program when a volunteer advocate is not available. Families will then have access to postpartum support providers who can guide them through the next steps with advocates and quality mental health from providers with both professional and personal experiences with loss.
Three Little Birds is so grateful for the continued support from the healthcare community as we seek to continue our mission of bridging the gap for both families and providers when walking the journey of pregnancy and infant loss. We are especially thankful for Maria Rosa's family and their continued support of families in our nest who experience the loss of a much wanted and loved baby. You can read more about their journey here.
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