PARENTAL BEREAVEMENT RESOURCES

Explore issues related to pregnancy and infant loss through the following selection of books, journal articles, films, databases, and internet resources.  Check CLIO for additional books and journal titles.  Suggested subject searches include:

Bereavement--Psychological aspects
Fetal death--Psychological aspects
Grief therapy
Infants (Newborn)--Death
Infants (Premature)--Death
Infertility--Psychological aspects
Loss (Psychology)
Miscarriage--Psychological aspects
Perinatal death--Psychological aspects
Stillbirth
Sudden infant death syndrome

Access Restrictions: available to current Columbia faculty, staff and students only.

BOOKS

Infants in crisis: how parents cope with newborn intensive care and its aftermath. 
Social Work - RJ253.5 .A35 1991 

Love, labour and loss : stillbirth and neonatal death. 
Social Work Stacks - RJ59 .B467 1996g 

 Parenthood Lost: Healing the Pain after Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Death. 
Social Work Stacks - BF575.G7 P366 2001 

Mothers bereaved by stillbirth, neonatal death or sudden infant death syndrome: patterns of distress and recovery. 
Social Work Stacks - BF575.G7 B69 1997g 

Coming to term: uncovering the truth about miscarriage. 
Social Work Stacks - RG648 .C54 2005

Complicated grieving and bereavement: understanding and  treating people experiencing loss. 
Social Work Stacks - BF575.G7 C645 2000  

Grieving reproductive loss: the healing process. 
Social Work Stacks - RG631 .G735 2003 

SIDS & Infant Death Survival Guide:  Information and Comfort for Grieving Family and Friends and Professionals Who Seek to Help Them. 
Social Work Stacks - RJ320.S93 H63 2003

When a baby dies: the experience of late miscarriage, stillbirth, and neonatal death.
Social Work Stacks - RG631 .K645 2001

Miscarriage: women's experiences and needs. 
Social Work - RG648 .M68 2001  

FILMS

A Child’s View of Grief
Social Work Reserves VIDEO BF723.G75
Children share with the viewer their feelings of sorrow and bereavement at the loss of a loved one.

Children Die, Too
Social Work Reserves VIDEO BF575.G7 C465 2005
Presents several families who have lost a child and discusses how they coped with the death.

Journal of Grief: The Death of a Baby
Social Work Reserves VIDEO RJ59 .J68 2002g
An interview with Miriam, a woman who delivered premature twin girls who died shortly after birth. Miriam discusses her experience in the hospital and her grief afterwards. She reads excerpts from the journal she kept during that period.

Losing Layla
Social Work Reserves VIDEO RJ59 .L67 2003g
An autobiographical documentary film chronicling the pregnancy of the filmmaker, that ends with the death of her newborn daughter. The camera closely follows she and her partner as they await the birth of the baby.  Included in the film are the memorial service and the thoughts of the couple months after Layla's birth and death.

Some Babies Die
Health Sciences Media VIDEO RJ59 .S6 1986; Barnard Media VIDEO RJ59 N46 1986g
Interviews and documentary footage of a family during the unexpected death of their premature baby. Through contact with the baby, support of medical professionals, family and friends, the family is able to grieve and accept the death.  Narrated by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross.

There Was a Child
Social Work Reserves VIDEO RG631 .T53 1991
Through interviews with parents who have experienced the loss of a pregnancy or the birth of a stillborn child, this film shows some of the impact that these losses can have. Helpful suggestions are also discussed.

ONLINE DATABASES

INTERNET RESOURCES

AMEND
AMEND was established in 1974, and offers a free counseling service to parents who have experienced the loss of an infant through miscarriage, stillbirth, or neonatal death. The main purpose of AMEND is to offer support and encouragement to parents having a normal grief reaction to the loss of their baby.

The Compassionate Friends
The Compassionate Friends is a national nonprofit, self-help support organization that offers friendship, understanding, and hope to bereaved parents, grandparents and siblings.  Their mission is to  assist families toward the positive resolution of grief following the death of a child of any age and to provide information to help others be supportive.

M.I.S.S. Foundation
The MISS Foundation is a 501 (c) 3, volunteer based organization committed to providing crisis support and long term aid to families after the death of a child from any cause. MISS also participates in legislative and advocacy issues, community engagement and volunteerism, and culturally competent, multidisciplinary, education opportunities.

National SIDS/Infant Death Resource Center
The National SIDS/Infant Death Resource Center provides information services and technical assistance on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and related topics.  They provide educational materials, technical assistance, publications, and services for bereavement support, as well as helping to improve services to underserved populations.

SHARE – Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support
The mission of Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support, Inc. is to serve those whose lives are touched by the tragic death of a baby through early pregnancy loss, stillbirth, or in the first few months of life.  Share has been dedicated to supporting parents and families throughout the United States, as well as internationally, since 1977.