How I deal with infant loss as a labor/delivery nurse.

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  • Опубликовано: 31 янв 2025

Комментарии • 76

  • @HannahNaegele
    @HannahNaegele 2 года назад +134

    Thank you for talking about this! We lost our newborn at 3 days old in Nov 2021 and the nurses/doctors/ social workers who cared for my husband and I that day were absolutely incredible. They made us feel so safe and that our baby was so loved. My mom later told us that she knew the whole time that the coroner was getting antsy waiting for us to give her up, but I never knew because our team never said a word to my husband or I. They just let us hold her as long as we needed. My mom had just overheard the coroner talking to a doctor about it. Anyway, I love my box of keepsakes and it's such a comfort to have it in hard moments. They did provide some of her hair in cute little baggies in the box, but the other day I got out her blanket that she was wrapped in when she died and randomly found 4 of her little hairs on it. Even after all this time she showed me she'll always be with me. It was so comforting having something "new" from her. ❤
    Noelle Joan-Marie
    11/22/21 - 11/25/21 💕

    • @annathenurse
      @annathenurse  2 года назад +17

      Thank you for sharing your story. I’m so sorry for your loss 🤍

  • @marisolalvarez6584
    @marisolalvarez6584 2 года назад +163

    I had a stillbirth in august due to my appendix rupturing at 22 weeks. I held my son for the two hours I was given because after I was transferred to icu.I also got a box and my baby’s foot prints. I still don’t have the strength to open the box and see my baby’s picture. 😢

    • @BRINACHAMD
      @BRINACHAMD 2 года назад +29

      I had my son at 19 weeks on my birthday 01/05 my water broke due to fibrosis. I delivered my son 01/06 My box has his hats, footprints, what he weighted, the blanket he was wrapped in, a journal book and pictures. I took all the pictures and got them blown up. As I write this full of tears mama open ya baby’s box it brings some type of peace in your grieving times.May you find peace in knowing you have an forever Angel

    • @marisolalvarez6584
      @marisolalvarez6584 2 года назад +14

      @@BRINACHAMD thank you and I’m sorry for your loss. My husband and I hadn’t picked out a name yet when it happened, but I named him Angel 👼

    • @annathenurse
      @annathenurse  2 года назад +39

      Maybe one day you will. Until then, it will be waiting 💔

    • @andynonymous6769
      @andynonymous6769 2 года назад +12

      Just existing and carrying on is strong enough ❤

    • @ashleyshaw9438
      @ashleyshaw9438 2 года назад +13

      Please know you’re not alone mama… ♥️ so sorry about your loss.
      Love, another angels mama ♥️

  • @alaynamatthews6632
    @alaynamatthews6632 2 года назад +30

    A year ago today I found out I lost my baby at 16 weeks. The nurses, midwives, and doctors that cared for me while I was in labor, delivered my tiny boy, and spent time with him made a world of difference to me. I don't remember all of their names, but I remember how they made me feel throughout the ordeal. Thank you for what you do to help other mothers in this same horrible situation.

  • @aleahdinkha
    @aleahdinkha Год назад +15

    Im only 14 but this is probobly my BIGGEST fear of becoming a mother 😞. I start sobbing so hard when I hear someone went through this.

  • @sophiec4462
    @sophiec4462 2 года назад +44

    I really appreciate this video! I’m a nursing student and hopefully will be able to go into labor and delivery once I graduate! I always wonder how to deal with infant deaths, and so I’m so appreciative of you talking about this!

    • @annathenurse
      @annathenurse  2 года назад +11

      Of course! Glad to give insight

  • @user-gm3yb9yh4b
    @user-gm3yb9yh4b Год назад +13

    As the mother of two stillborn baby girls, I commend you on the strength you show for those mothers. Never stop, you seem like an outstanding nurse.
    And you’re absolutely correct, I remember everything about the nurses that cared for me and my daughters. I had some who seemed to distance themselves by simply doing their job and leaving the room. And I had one who sat with me and just let me cry to her for three hours while I held my baby girl…I’ll never forget how kind she was to me and my sweet angel.
    Delilah Jane born into Heaven at 37 weeks, June 5th, 2011 & Nova Maddyx born into Heaven at 24 weeks, February 6th, 2018…Mommy loves and misses y’all everyday 💜💜

    • @fennelfin
      @fennelfin Год назад +2

      You are so strong ❤

  • @semki3970
    @semki3970 7 месяцев назад +4

    My mom had a stillborn with her first pregnancy and she said the nurse held her all night while she cried. Seven years later, my mom gave birth to my brother and while walking around in the hospital my mom saw that nurse. My mom said she didn‘t recognize her by her looks but by her angelic voice. She asked her if it was her and she confirmed, and then the nurse insisted to be her nurse again this time. My mom says that even now 35 years later she always thinks of her and how she made her feel🩵

  • @stevensantos4245
    @stevensantos4245 Год назад +10

    I'm in nursing school and was taught Jean Wattsons theory of care. Our care is about the patient and not us, so being able to realize that and not put ourselves over what these individuals are going through makes a world of a difference.

  • @annmariescharf1952
    @annmariescharf1952 2 года назад +15

    Eerie timing for this video to pop up in my notifications. I'm a new grad/L&D nurse. I've always known since I was little that this is what I wanted to do. Today was my first diagnosed fetal demise. It was sad, obviously. But, I was "fine"... until I got in my car. Then the tears came. I had to sit in my driveway for almost an hour before I could go inside to my 3 babies. I've heard the words that mama got told today. I know her pain. Your video made me feel better about not having been emotional before I left the unit. I was compartmentalizing... and wearing my nurse cap. 🩷

  • @dyttodoedie5368
    @dyttodoedie5368 2 года назад +8

    I’m so grateful for nurses and doctors and people in healthcare in general it definitely take a certain type of person to be able to deal with the stress and horrible and sad situations that these healthcare professionals have to deal with they don’t just lose babys they can lose people if all ages infants to 99 years old and all’s deaths are tragic and sad and traumatizing i don’t know how professionals do it honeslty it’s almost like you have to find the medium you can’t be to sad because you don’t want the patient to feel like they have to take care of you but you can’t show no emotions because we’re all human I can’t imagine how difficult working inna hospital is the good is great but the bad is traumatic
    PLEASE IF YOU READ ANYTHING IN THIS PARAGRAPH READ THIS; I AM SO INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL FOR ANYONE WHO WORKS IN THE HOSPITAL THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR DESLING WITH THE SITUATIONS THAT MOST PEOPLE CANT YOU ARE ALL STRINGER THAN I COULD EVER IMAGINE AND ARE THE REASON SO MANY PEOPLE ARE ALIVE TODAY EVEN IF YOU HAD THE SMALLEST PART YOU DID SOMETHING TO SAVE SOMEONES LIFE WHICH NOT EVERYONE CAN SAY SO THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

  • @CampbellHolli
    @CampbellHolli Год назад +12

    My son was stillborn at 40 weeks 13 years ago, and the nurses at our hospital were amazing! Can't thank them (and you) enough for the work you do every day!

  • @kathymacdonald
    @kathymacdonald Год назад +7

    I will never forget my nurse, Brandi, she was seriously the best. My son was born sleeping at 23 weeks and she supported me each and every way I needed to be supported. I will be forever grateful for her.

  • @riaconcepcion
    @riaconcepcion 2 года назад +10

    Thank you for posting this and creating awareness. That time spent in the hospital after a stillbirth stays with that mom for the rest of her life and the support you give to each and every single one means the world. I had the kindest nurse when it happened and I’m so grateful. It’s true this is heavy work as a healthcare professional and thank you for showing up for these grieving moms.

  • @VWHNeal1018
    @VWHNeal1018 Год назад +4

    I appreciate you discussing infant loss. ❤

  • @fragilefleur
    @fragilefleur 2 года назад +16

    Great to have a toolbox of coping skills for the nurses who do this extremely emotionally weighty job. You are really a great nurse. I wish all had your compassion/empathy mixed with heart and intellect. It takes a lot to pour this essential care into the bereft mothers. It’s so good that you spoke on how you debrief and refuel. I wonder what best refuels you after debriefing. What brings your spirits back to base level again?

    • @annathenurse
      @annathenurse  2 года назад +7

      Having a good work and life balance. Doing things I love outside of work and reminding myself life is beautiful.

  • @AmericanAkitaClub
    @AmericanAkitaClub Год назад +4

    Wow thank you for sharing this!!❤
    When my sister lost her baby at 5.5 mos she had to deliver the baby and her nurse was soooooo rude and careless and treated her like garbage, and the nurse made this sad grieving moment turn into a angry and rushed. She had only gotten 2 hours to hold him before you keep pushing her to give the baby back so they can do testes.. it'd been 2 years almost and I must say that nurse ruined my sister.
    So thank you for not being like that xoxooxoxoxoxox

  • @mineandmine4528
    @mineandmine4528 10 месяцев назад +1

    I work at a hospital . I’ve seen mom and baby leave the earth together. I’ve had a patient that was in a DV situation and lost her baby because of it. 😢

  • @daysmile12
    @daysmile12 2 года назад +6

    You are such an amazing, inspirational nurse and person! It's great to see that kind and compassionate individuals still exist.💜

  • @jessicacarnahan6924
    @jessicacarnahan6924 2 года назад +10

    My daughter was born sleeping at 28 weeks 5 days in 1995. I don’t know HOW y’all do it. Thank you❤😢

    • @hyekerm
      @hyekerm 2 года назад +3

      I'm sorry for your loss😓

  • @simonspethmann8086
    @simonspethmann8086 2 года назад +15

    My aunt worked as a nurse in elderly care for decades.. Obviously, they all end up dead at one point. She got sick over it (tourette's), as did her co workers. Please take care of yourself, too. And thank you for being there for us patients.🙏

  • @Emeraldmeg31
    @Emeraldmeg31 Год назад +1

    My cousin and her friend lost their babies on the same day at the same hospital. They now advocate for an organization that helps support women whose babies have died. They raised money to put those cooling beds in hospitals in the area. They also provide the memory boxes.

  • @ameliarose47
    @ameliarose47 2 года назад +11

    I saw a gravestone that had the dates that the baby was born 1 day and died the next. It was sad even though it was just a tombstone

    • @hyekerm
      @hyekerm 2 года назад +1

      So do I some days ago. It was painful to think that this happened, even if I didn't know these people

  • @shelly2094
    @shelly2094 2 года назад +2

    You are an amazing nurse!

  • @iammarysa
    @iammarysa 10 месяцев назад +1

    My first born child was a stillborn and I wish I had the box like this… but I wasn’t even given a chance to hold a baby…. And I regret not asking for it so much. It feels like I don’t have anything associated with my baby. And I miss her so much. Every day.

  • @bertha7480
    @bertha7480 7 дней назад

    Thank you for what you do

  • @AshlynnCherry
    @AshlynnCherry 2 года назад +6

    this must be so hard your so inspiring

  • @andynonymous6769
    @andynonymous6769 2 года назад +9

    If you don't mind my asking, what did your support system look like when you were in school? I assume you didn't have a spouse (don't know if you do now either), you didn't have any coworkers yet, you probably couldn't afford therapy, and your friends probably would've been worried for you or uncomfortable if you tried talking to them about these things. That's been my experience: I don't have a support system
    Luckily I haven't seen or done anything particularly disturbing but the day will come I'm sure

  • @jules_11
    @jules_11 2 года назад +2

    if you had a podcast i would listen to it

  • @Chunlialways
    @Chunlialways Год назад

    It's the saddest loss ever! Two in one bc for many no more are you a mother for first timers and the baby you wanted to be with is no longer there.

  • @R.M.3.14
    @R.M.3.14 2 года назад +8

    Not to be morbid or grotesque…but I’m the type that needs to know ‘just in case’ I ever have to experience it. What did you mean by ‘rotting’? Like…I don’t even know how to Google that.
    Much love to anyone who has experienced this. Death is one of the hardest parts of living, I can’t even imagine it in this way…

    • @annathenurse
      @annathenurse  2 года назад +8

      The body decomposes/ decays and it will start to smell.

  • @LESREID2
    @LESREID2 2 года назад +2

    I had my own loss at 17w pregnant and this would be super triggering for me. I knew this line of nursing couldn’t be where I landed.

  • @MelanieBarrozo-u7s
    @MelanieBarrozo-u7s Год назад

    I never worked in L&D but have worked with families and people in their last moments and I think it’s probably true what you say about having a certain personality, but I think a lot of it is also training and experience. You don’t really want to go into this situation with no emotional connection at all or the patient will pick up on that and find you cold, so there could be a danger in being totally detached. In my experience, having come into work and spent the morning cleaning up a woman in order to prepare her for the mortuary, the way to get through it is basically to just keep on going task by task after taking that moment to just clean the person and give some dignity to the process. There’s something particularly heartbreaking about infant death, though, so maybe I wouldn’t handle it as well but I think it is essentially the same as the loss of any life is heartbreaking. I was a complete mess after my miscarriage but that’s because it was a personal loss and obviously we don’t respond to grief at work the same way we would to losing our own family members, but we all deal with our emotions in different ways. I wouldn’t say being extremely empathetic means you can’t be a nurse and deal with these situations professionally is basically my point. Just understand there will be emotional moments in any clinical career.

  • @jodiburnett6211
    @jodiburnett6211 9 месяцев назад

    Thank you.
    What the nurses did for me, everything you described, I am forever in awe of the nurses and staff that saved my life and so carefully took care of my stillborn son.
    Jeremy❤️12/28/00

  • @OompaLoompa1234
    @OompaLoompa1234 2 года назад +5

    HIIII! I love your vids❤😊

    • @annathenurse
      @annathenurse  2 года назад +2

      Thank you!

    • @OompaLoompa1234
      @OompaLoompa1234 2 года назад +2

      @@annathenurse omg thanks so much for responding. Your work has inspired me to be a labor and delivery nurse just like you, thank you! 😊

  • @Nicolekissee
    @Nicolekissee 9 месяцев назад +1

    Thank you for this information. I find it very interesting. At what point do infants have to have autopsies? The hospital may not worry about that portion of the death, but in curious how the rule the cause of death for some infants.

  • @InternetJury
    @InternetJury Год назад +2

    I wish I had a caring nurse. I was 24 weeks and knew something was wrong. I k ew I was having contractions, but wasn't sure. I'd been sick my entire pregnancy and been in the L&D floor 3 times.for IV hydration. This was a small town. The hospital didn't have any NICU capability. I went in panicked and they swore I wasn't in labor. In fact the nurse said, "You just have a bladder infection. You need to calm down..." Well it was more than that, but I was ignored. They discharged me water.broke in int he elevator on the way out. So, we went right back up and then all hell broke loose. They tried to call for lifeflight to take me to the major city nearby, ut they were told it was a nogo because they'd just left 20 minutes prior (empty) and couldn't be back for 2 hours. They got me back in the room and started all the things... and then they told me to relax while they called the doctor. Well, tlwhat they did was leave to attend to another birth, a perfectly average one and forgot about me. About 15 minutes in I yell for help and nobody came... and my husband delivered our little girl on her own. She was born alive.and we were screaming for help. Finally a nurse comes in and yells, "Oh $ht!" But then they hand her to me and said, "Sorry, she's not going to make it." That's it. About an hour later they moved us all the way down the hall to this closet of a room, far away from everyone. They handed us a bunch of paperwork for birth and death certificates, even though she was still alive at that point...barely. She was fine, I wasn't. They screwed everything up and we were treated like we weren't wanted there. They actually told us not to leave and if anyone came, not to discuss losing the baby on the floor. It was just... traumatic all around. Also, we had to call the mortuary... they wouldn't. And one of the nurses saod to us, "It's better this way because had she survived at she would have had major health issues and you'd be caring for her your entire lives."
    🤬

    • @erikamichael115
      @erikamichael115 Год назад +2

      That is so messed up I am so sorry you had to experience all of that what a cruel group of nurses I feel like you have a lawsuit honestly
      My heart hurts from one loss mama to another wish I could give you a hug

    • @MelanieBarrozo-u7s
      @MelanieBarrozo-u7s Год назад +2

      This makes me so angry I don’t know how I could contain myself. I don’t care if they thought she wouldn’t make it; they should’ve rushed to get her as much help as humanly possible like they should’ve done with any other patient. What utter BS. I’d sue the crap out of that hospital. Of course, in the end it’s not about revenge and the real story is that you had a daughter who you lost and I’m so sorry for that. In a way, I never quite know how we get through losing people and grieving, especially when that life is so short there are so many unknowns, but both you and your daughter deserved better care.

    • @erinnorwood6124
      @erinnorwood6124 Год назад +1

      😮😢😢

    • @standup2982
      @standup2982 Год назад +1

      Oh my goodness, I'm so incredibly sorry

  • @Jemma21312
    @Jemma21312 2 года назад +4

    So I have a question, what do you mean by have the baby for hours. I’m a little confused I hope I’m not rude for asking 😅

    • @kendallstout2020
      @kendallstout2020 2 года назад +12

      Like the Moms want to hold their baby and just be with the baby for a while before giving up the baby to the mortuary

    • @annathenurse
      @annathenurse  2 года назад +4

      Exactly what that other person said

  • @andressasoares3287
    @andressasoares3287 2 года назад +2

    How many patients and delivers do you go throughout the day?

  • @OompaLoompa1234
    @OompaLoompa1234 2 года назад +2

    Also 1st❤️😊

  • @livinlovelee2683
    @livinlovelee2683 Год назад +1

    I've seen a video that the mother kept the baby for DAYSSSSSS and even took the fetus home. On ice. I was shocked!!!!!!

  • @fragilefleur
    @fragilefleur 2 года назад +5

    How do you deal when you go home? Can you compartmentalize the experience to work or does it haunt you after work?

    • @jennrocchi6385
      @jennrocchi6385 2 года назад +2

      you just your best to leave it at the hospital doors, but sometimes it really just gets you. nurses cars have seen a lot of tears, I'm sure. get it all out on the drive home then pull ourselves together bc our families need us too.

    • @annathenurse
      @annathenurse  2 года назад +5

      Sometimes I have to compartmentalize. I still have to go home and take care of my 2 young children.

    • @andynonymous6769
      @andynonymous6769 2 года назад

      @@jennrocchi6385 what do you mean "just leave it at the hospital doors?" Just push down the memories until you're back? Never talk about it outside?
      I'm a student and I'm learning how to deal with this stuff

  • @tryphazzard2771
    @tryphazzard2771 11 месяцев назад

    My son passed away due to a heart condition when he was 24 days old. Our nursing staff was simply amazing. Everyone we came in contact with really was. The hospital had even checked in with us since, and the nurses sent us a card. I balled! They were so wonderful. I'll never have the words to thank them. Your work and your heart are appreciated!! ❤💙