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Supporting Families During Pregnancy Following a Perinatal Loss
Metropolitan State University, St. Paul Campus – Founders Hall Auditorium
700 E 7th Street
St. Paul, MN 55106
Friday, August 05, 2016, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM CDT
Category: First Friday Forum (CE)

Supporting Families During Pregnancy Following a Perinatal Loss

Friday, August 5, 2016
Registration: 8:30 - 9:00 a.m.
Program: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Metropolitan State University, St. Paul Campus
Auditorium
700 E. Seventh Street
Saint Paul, MN  55106

About the Program

The moment pregnancy is confirmed, both the woman and her partner begin a complex journey of redefinition, reorganization, and reintegration of self. What parents do not anticipate is perinatal loss, a baby dying during pregnancy or in the newborn period. Perinatal grief is enduring, exhausting and has a profound and often lasting effect on both the bereaved and those caring for them. The pregnancy that follows often carries increased fear and anxiety.

This program will provide information on the educational and therapeutic needs of families as they move through a pregnancy that follows the loss of a baby.  Since pregnancy anxiety is based on a real threat and is justified anxiety, it does not necessarily have to be classified as pathological (Bergner, 2007). Therapeutic educational intervention that integrates the continued bond and attachment theories and use of relaxation will be explored and discussed with the audience.  This presentation is at the intermediate level and is designed for psychologists and other mental health providers. 

This session qualifies for 3.0 continuing education credits. You must attend the full 3-hour program to get continuing education credit for the event.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Describe and identify the common symptoms of perinatal and postnatal mood and anxiety symptoms the mom experiences during a subsequent pregnancy after loss.
  2. Identify and implement interventions and resources of support into the holistic treatment plan for the mom and her partner pregnant after a loss.
  3. Explain the concept of prenatal parenting that honors one's parenting role to both a deceased baby and an unborn baby carried after a previous loss.

The Minnesota Psychological Association is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.  The Minnesota Psychological Association maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

About the Presenters:

Joann O’Leary, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S., has a Ph.D. in Family Education, a Masters in Maternal Child Health from the University of MN and Psychology from Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland where she was a Rotary Scholar. She has a background in nursing, preschool special education, and as a Parent-Infant Specialist in a high risk perinatal center, teaches at the University level, is a Level IV Infant Mental Health mentor for the State of MN, a Fulbright Specialist in the area of prenatal parenting and facilitates infant loss and pregnancy after loss support groups. 

Lindsey Henke, M.S.W., L.I.C.S.W., is the Founder and Executive Director of Pregnancy After Loss Support <https://www.pregnancyafterlosssupport.com/>, writer, and clinical social worker. Her oldest daughter, Nora was stillborn after a healthy full-term pregnancy in December of 2012. Lindsey wrote about her grief after the death of her daughter as a contributor for Still Standing Magazine <http://stillstandingmag.com/> and was later featured as Pregnancy and Newborn Magazine's Knocked Up Blogger during her pregnancy with her second daughter, Zoe who was born healthy and alive in March of 2014.  Lindsey now dedicates her time to building a peer-to-peer support community for moms pregnant and parenting their child born after a loss. Through her work as the Executive Director for Pregnancy After Loss Support, she raises awareness of the challenging time that pregnancy after loss can be in a mom’s life.  Ms. Henke received her M.S.W. with a concentration in Child & Family Therapy and Health/Mental Health Concentration from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

To Register:

Register Online

Download a Registration Form 

Refund/Cancellation Policy: A 100% refund will be made if the event is cancelled. Refunds, less a $5 handling free, will be given if a written cancellation is received at least two working days before the scheduled program begins. Transfer of fee to another program is granted if written cancellation notice is received at least one day before the program. No refund or transfer is given the day of the program.


Contact: Rhea Sullivan, (952) 564-3048