In the News

Grief Support Training to be held in Harlingen;
Promotes Support for Families After Loss of Baby

HARLINGEN – What do you say to a family when a pregnancy ends unexpectedly in a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, or newborn death? A training conference to be held in Harlingen April 19-21 will equip health professionals, clergy, and funeral directors to provide support to grieving families in these tragic situations.

The “RTS Bereavement Training” conference will be held Wednesday, April 19 and Thursday, April 20 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Woodward Conference Center at Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen. The conference is designed to help nurses, social workers, clergy and chaplains, physicians, midwives, and funeral directors to improve their skills in assisting bereaved families. Participants will study the grieving process and explore the unique lifelong parenting and bereavement experience of perinatal loss.

Those who attend the bereavement training have the option to go on to the “RTS Coordinator Training,” which will be held Friday, April 21, also at VBMC-Harlingen.

Each year, approximately 870,000 families suffer the loss of their baby. The impact of such losses can be devastating for family life, work, career and the emotional and physical health of these families.

The RTS program was developed in the 1980’s at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The program addresses the individual needs of families who have experienced a pregnancy loss or newborn death. Through this program, an interdisciplinary approach to bereavement care is taught that reaches out to grieving families from the time their baby dies and through the initial period of grieving. Formerly known as “Resolve Through Sharing,” the RTS Program has grown to include over 2,700 health professionals internationally.

The conference is offering certificates and continuing education credits for nurses, social workers and chaplains. For more information or to register for the training, call toll-free 1-800-362-9567, ext. 54747.