Respect Life: Grieving Miscarriages or Stillbirths
The Renewal Center concludes its five-part discussion series on Respect Life issues on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 10 a.m. central time with a presentation from A Mom’s Peace, which is a lay apostolate serving families of miscarried and stillborn children.
Miscarriage and stillbirth have existed since human beings first existed, but too often, little is said, done or planned for families who have lost a preborn child.
A Mom’s Peace began in 2014 when its founder and program director, Kara Palladino, lost her seventh child in miscarriage. When there was no safety net in place to help her bury her child Francis, she answered God’s call to be the lifeline to fellow loss families by starting an affordable burial, bereavement and remembrance program.
Since then, A Mom’s Peace has served nearly 1,300 families in many ways.
In the immediate wake of loss, the team at A Mom’s Peace helps families plan funerals, burials and cremations; work with hospitals, funeral homes and cemeteries. They always work to put the corporal and spiritual works of mercy into practice and empower mothers and fathers to pay tribute to the lives of their children.
Deacon Gerard-Marie Anthony, the spiritual director for A Mom’s Peace, provides counsel and spiritual support as a celebrant of the funeral rite for these tiniest of God’s children. He also leads days of reflection to help families process their grief.
Continuing its service beyond families’ immediate needs, A Mom’s Peace hosts support group meetings led by a psychologist and fellow loss parent, Dr. Sabine Heisman. Currently these group therapy meetings are online via Zoom; they are meant to build community and acceptance of losses while providing tools to help deal with the ancillary struggles that come with grief including anxiety, depression and fear.
A Mom’s Peace also offers an online Garden of Remembrance where families may dedicate a flower of their choosing to the Blessed Mother honoring their miscarried or stillborn child. Naming the babies and contributing to the beauty of souls is very healing in this special online space.
Register for the Oct. 30 discussion (10-11:30 a.m. central time) by clicking one of the buttons below. You must register to attend.
Join us Saturday Oct. 30 to learn how the Lord uses tragedy to inspire a community built to support these families and to create an infrastructure to assist them in their greatest hours of need and learn ways big and small to help offer practical assistance and support to loss parents.
Earlier discussions in this series were about abolishing the death penalty, elder abuse, mothers who lost children to violence and mass incarceration. Videos of discussions in this series can be found on our website.
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