If you are at a loss for how to support a friend or family through pregnancy or infant loss, you are not alone! Even as a mother of recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) and stillbirth, this is an incredibly difficult topic! I have said and done things that have...
Faith shares the story of her daughter’s stillbirth, how they honor Audrey’s life, and understanding the emotions surrounding loss.
When babies come home with complex medical needs, families commonly experience relief and joy that coexist with uncertainty, grief, and fear.
When a baby comes home from the NICU, it’s a big moment, but not a simple one. In the hospital, parents have constant support. There’s always someone to answer a question or step in when something feels uncertain. At home, that safety net disappears, and even...
Before discharge, the most important focus is comfort with your baby’s care. You don’t need to know everything, but you do need to feel confident handling the essentials and recognizing when something isn’t right. That confidence comes from practice and repetition while still in the NICU.
The nurse coordinator is the heart of the fetal care experience. They are the family’s guide, advocate, and trusted ally who helps them manage uncertainty with compassion and confidence. Their role is not just important; it is often life-changing for the parents and the baby alike.
A nurse coordinator is much more than an administrative guide. They are the bridge between the family and the wide range of specialists, therapies, and resources that a fetal center provides. They help ensure that care is coordinated, communication is clear, and the family never feels alone in navigating the journey ahead.
In a compassionate delivery plan, parents may choose to baptize, sing, read, or simply sit quietly. There is no single right way. The guiding principle is simply: the baby’s life, no matter how brief, is honored fully.
When trying to support the family, remember that even well-intended words can unintentionally minimize or oversimplify their circumstances. Words can place emotional weight on parents who are already carrying a great deal. Families are adjusting in real time to new terminology, new routines, and sometimes an entirely new vision of parenthood. The family is not only caring for a child, but they are also adjusting to the new realities of their changed world.
Pregnancy can feel uncertain, but taking a daily prenatal vitamin with folic acid, ideally before conception, is a simple step that has been proven to help protect the developing brain and spine. While it cannot prevent all birth defects, it provides meaningful support during one of the most critical stages of development.
For many hopeful parents, the idea of genetic testing is a new and unfamiliar experience. Genetic tests can sometimes identify changes that may increase the chance of a baby being born with certain health conditions.
At the NICU, these providers are medically supporting the babies, but they are also seeing the emotional strain on families. They don’t have the capacity or skillset to really support them in the way that they always need- that’s where this program comes in.
Brittany candidly discusses her difficult pregnancy, marked by severe nausea, depression, loss of control, and unmet expectations—contrasting sharply with the joyful persona she projects publicly. She emphasizes the importance of normalizing the harder emotional realities of pregnancy, including prenatal depression, and allowing space for gratitude and struggle to coexist.