Pregnancy after prenatal or infant loss can be a lonely and frightening time, but through stories of both pain and healing, the authors show how to navigate the exciting but choppy waters of a subsequent pregnancy.
The loss of a pregnancy or newborn infant changes the meaning of pregnancy, birth, and parenting forever. Increased parental fear and anxiety, and continuing grief for the deceased baby, can impact subsequent pregnancies in unexpected ways. Parents who are unsupported in pregnancy after loss are may be more at risk of experiencing anxiety, depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and difficulty in attaching to a new baby.
Different Baby Different Story explores the range of emotions, thoughts, and physical experiences of parents who have gone on to subsequent pregnancies. Including stories from mothers, fathers, other children, and extended family members, this poignant and moving work will help readers through their own feelings and give voice to those who may have felt unheard or unsupported in the past. With practical advice on self-advocacy, the book helps expectant parents gain insights as to how others learned to work with health care professionals, mental health professionals, and their own families and friends and coworkers. For expectant mothers, their partners, their families and their friends, this work supports the range of experiences and encourages readers on a path to healing.
Author Biography:
Joann O’Leary ,PhD, MPH, MS, has a background in nursing, pre-school special education, and 18 years in clinical practice as a Parent-Infant Specialist in a High-Risk perinatal center, where she worked individually with families and facilitated pregnancy after loss support groups for over 35 years. She is endorsed as a Level IV Infant Mental Health Specialist and has published a book, two book chapters, and two video productions on the Pregnancy that follows loss. She was a 2016 Fulbright Specialist at University College Cork, Ireland, is a consultant to Star Legacy Foundation, and a member of the International Stillbirth Alliance and Pregnancy Loss and Infant Death Alliance.
Lynnda Parker, BS, BSN, has worked 25 years in high risk perinatal nursing center as a labor and birthing staff nurse and clinical nurse specialist. She co-founded the Pregnancy After Loss Support Groups with Dr O’Leary where they co-facilitated the groups. She also taught childbirth preparation classes specially designed for Pregnancy After Loss. She developed a pregnancy class “Bodyworks” for woman experiencing a complicated pregnancy. She currently is an adjunct instructor in nursing at Northwestern University, St. Paul, MN.
Margaret Murphy, DN, MSc, is a Registered Midwife and Registered General Nurse with over 20 years clinical midwifery experience. Her research area is pregnancy after loss. She is a faculty member at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork, Ireland since 2007 and delivers bereavement education courses to undergraduate and postgraduate students. She is a member of the Pregnancy Loss Research Group, INFANT Research Centre, Cork. She is the Treasurer and Executive Board Member of International Stillbirth Alliance.
Jane Warland, PhD, RN, RM, is a registered nurse/midwife and Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of South Australia. Since suffering the unexplained full term stillbirth of her daughter Emma in 1993, she has been a passionate researcher into preventative and modifiable risk factors for stillbirth as well as a strong advocate for promoting public and maternity care provider awareness of stillbirth. Jane practiced as a nurse-midwife for 30 years before commencing work as an academic in 2008 and has more than 100 publications, including a book titled “Pregnancy after Loss” which she wrote and published with her husband Mike.
