| Sometimes,
the joy of pregnancy ends abruptly in miscarriage
or still birth. Nurses who work at Southeast
Missouri Hospital's Elrod Obstetrics and Gynecology
Center are trained as SHARE counselors to help
those who lives are touched by the tragic death
of a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth or
newborn death.
The goal is to treat infants with respect and
dignity, no matter how small.
SHARE Support Group meets the second Tuesday
of the month from 7-8:30 p.m. in Meeting Room 108. |
Learn
about our SHARE symbol
|
If parents choose,
they may have photographs of their infant and
even plaster castings made of the baby's feet.
Volunteers make baby garments, in which the child
may be buried or the parents can keep.
Mothers who suffer
an early miscarriage receive a pin of two tiny
feet, that are the exact size and shape of an
unborn baby's feet at 10 weeks.
For more information
about SHARE, contact Gayle Unverfeth
at (573) 651-5560.
Nationally, it is estimated
34 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage.
And of the more than 4 million live births recorded
in the U.S. every year, there are about 26,000
fetal deaths (stillborns, 20 weeks to term) and
about 18,000 early neonatal deaths (birth to 28
days).
SHARE began in the fall of 1977 at St. John's
Hospital in Springfield, Ill. Today, its national
headquarters is located on the campus of St. Joseph
Health Center in St. Charles, Missouri.
Southeast founded its SHARE program Feb, 14,
1982, and has helped many families since that
time. The local SHARE counselors have developed
a package of information for families, containing
a memory book, pamphlets and soft-bound books,
geared to each particular loss. There are even
books geared to siblings affected by the loss. |
