We are pleased to announce, we now have a perinatal bereavement support group. Our support group is open to anyone who is dealing with a perinatal loss (miscarriage, stillborn, or newborn/infant death).
When:
First Tuesday of every month
Time:
6:30pm-8:00pm
Where:
Sierra Vista Regional Health Center- Outreach Center
1840 Paseo San Luis
Sierra Vista, Arizona 85635
If you would like more information, please call:
Rebecca Buksh at 520-234-0809
Monday, September 1, 2008
Welcome
Welcome to C.A.R.E., your local, online resource for perinatal grief. In situations of grief and loss, it’s easy to feel alone or unsure about where to turn. C.A.R.E. staff at Sierra Vista Regional Health Center wants you to know that there are places to go and people to talk to while you heal and sort through the overwhelming emotions associated with loss.
This fledgling program hopes to grow into a firm foundation for parents living with loss in Cochise County, Arizona. We have a passion and the vision for supporting the quiet suffering so many women and families experience when a pregnancy ends unexpectedly.
Long-term goals include:
God bless your journey. May you find the peace and comfort you are looking for.
Rebecca Buksh
C.A.R.E. Perinatal Bereavement Coordinator
Phone: 520-417-4557
Email: rebecca.buksh@svrhc.org
Sierra Vista Regional Health Center Website: http://www.svrhc.org/
This fledgling program hopes to grow into a firm foundation for parents living with loss in Cochise County, Arizona. We have a passion and the vision for supporting the quiet suffering so many women and families experience when a pregnancy ends unexpectedly.
Long-term goals include:
- A local support group with a specific focus on perinatal grief.
- Providing perinatal grief resources to local clergy and congregations.
- Improving and expanding follow up care for perinatal grief patients at SVRHC, and the surrounding community.
God bless your journey. May you find the peace and comfort you are looking for.
Rebecca Buksh
C.A.R.E. Perinatal Bereavement Coordinator
Phone: 520-417-4557
Email: rebecca.buksh@svrhc.org
Sierra Vista Regional Health Center Website: http://www.svrhc.org/
What does C.A.R.E. stand for?
Compassion ~ We vow to treat you with tender sympathy and kindness. We do not pretend to know how you feel and will not project expectations about your healing process. We are here to care for you from the moment you reach out for someone to walk with you while you grieve.
Attendance ~ We are here to connect you with local and online resources for perinatal grief and loss. The most effective form of advocacy is simple, dependable presence. We will support and encourage you by giving you the tools you need to remember your child, to pick up the pieces and to keep moving forward. While your experience and pain are unique, we are here to remind you that you do not have to brave this trial alone.
Recovery ~ You may wonder if you will every feel like yourself again. Sometimes it takes longer to recover than your loved ones expect, but it is important to take the time you need to mourn, remember and commemorate this emotional time in your life. The C.A.R.E. staff can walk with you through this process.
Empowerment ~ Losing a child can also mean losing a sense of control in life. Pregnancy is full of anticipation and planning for the future. An important part of the healing process is finding a sense of hope and optimism again. Connecting with others experiencing the effects of pregnancy loss or the C.A.R.E. staff can help validate your emotions and help you give yourself permission to start looking ahead.
We are here to walk with you on the road to recovery and empowerment in compassionate and attentive ways. If you let us know what you need, we will provide you with the best C.A.R.E. possible!
Prayers of peace and comfort be with you.
Attendance ~ We are here to connect you with local and online resources for perinatal grief and loss. The most effective form of advocacy is simple, dependable presence. We will support and encourage you by giving you the tools you need to remember your child, to pick up the pieces and to keep moving forward. While your experience and pain are unique, we are here to remind you that you do not have to brave this trial alone.
Recovery ~ You may wonder if you will every feel like yourself again. Sometimes it takes longer to recover than your loved ones expect, but it is important to take the time you need to mourn, remember and commemorate this emotional time in your life. The C.A.R.E. staff can walk with you through this process.
Empowerment ~ Losing a child can also mean losing a sense of control in life. Pregnancy is full of anticipation and planning for the future. An important part of the healing process is finding a sense of hope and optimism again. Connecting with others experiencing the effects of pregnancy loss or the C.A.R.E. staff can help validate your emotions and help you give yourself permission to start looking ahead.
We are here to walk with you on the road to recovery and empowerment in compassionate and attentive ways. If you let us know what you need, we will provide you with the best C.A.R.E. possible!Prayers of peace and comfort be with you.
Q & A
How do I contact the grief nursing staff at Sierra Vista Regional Health Center?
Perinatal Grief Coordinator: rebecca.buksh@svrhc.org
Phone: (520) 955-3441
Perinatal Grief Coordinator: jaclyn.hunter@svrhc.org
Phone: (520) 417-3547
Perinatal Grief Nurse: mary.austin@svrhc.org
Perinatal Grief Nurse: nona.lacy@svrhc.org
Perinatal Grief Staff: jan.johnson@svrhc.org
OB Nurses Station: (520) 417-3180
Are there local support groups for people grieving?
C.A.R.E. Perinatal Bereavement Support Group
(520)955-3441
When: The first Tuesday of every month @ 6:30 pm
Sierra Vista Regional Health Center (Outreach Center)
1840 Paseo San Luis
Sierra Vista, Arizona 85635
The Compassionate Friends
(520) 803-0004 or (520) 803-7797
When: The first Thursday of the month 6:30pm
Mountain View Assembly of God (annex)
Hwy 90 at Colombo Avenue in Sierra Vista
Footprints: Perinatal Loss Support Group
(520)-873-6590
When: The 2nd Tuesday of every month at 7:30 pm
St. Joseph's Women's Care Pavilion
Agave Room
Tucson, Arizona
Grief & Loss Support Group
*Not specific to Perinatal Grief and Loss*
(520) 459-0444
When: The last Tuesday of the month at 4:30pm
Sierra Ev. Lutheran Church
101 N. Lenzner Avenue in Sierra Vista
Are there other local resources that specialize in perinatal grief?
Care Net Pregnancy Center of Cochise County (adoption support)
222 E. Fry Blvd.
Sierra Vista, AZ 85635
(520) 459-LOVE
We Care Services in Safford
101 Main Street
Safford, AZ 85548
(928)428-9406
Cochise County Health in Bisbee
1415 West Meldoy Lane Bldg. A
Bisbee, AZ 85603
(520) 432-9471
Pregnancy & Breastfeeding Hotline
This program is located in Phoenix, but connects women via telephone in a much wider area.
- Value Options: Counseling for mothers who have lost a baby. (800) 631-1314.
- Warm Line: A support/phone group operated 5pm-10pm daily to connect mothers who want to talk with others who have lost babies. (602) 347-1100.
- Crisis Line: A contact for mothers emotionally overwhelmed with the death of their child and considering suicide. (602) 222-9444.
- The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a 24-hour, toll-free suicide prevention service available to anyone in suicidal crisis. If you need help, please dial 1-800-273-TALK (8255). You will be routed to the closest possible crisis center in your area. With more than 130 crisis centers across the country, our mission is to provide immediate assistance to anyone seeking mental health services. Call for yourself, or someone you care about. Your call is free and confidential.
- Para obtener asistencia en español durante las 24 horas, llame al 1-888-628-9454
I'm in the military or a dependent of an active duty member are there benefits I'm entitled to?
Yes there are please see the side bar of this blog for more details and contact information at Ft. Huachuca.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Reflections
Samuel.
In the Jewish Scriptures, known to Christians as the Old Testament, the figure of Hannah is important. Hannah was not able to have children. The Scriptures say that the Lord closed up her womb (1 Samuel 1:5) and because of this, other women provoked her to sadness. In her distress Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly and vowing that if ever she should have a son born to her, she would dedicate him to the temple. She was a woman in deep distress and prayed as one was pouring her soul out before the Lord.
When the priest of the temple saw her, he thought she was drunk and he rebuked her saying, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine” (1 Sam 1:14). But Hannah answered him, “Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time” (1 Sam 1:16). Eli, the priest of the Temple, upon hearing Hannah’s situation, blessed her and said, “Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made him.” She left, went home and was saddened no more.
In due time Hannah conceived a son and she named him Samuel, which means he who is sent from God. As she promised, she brought him to the temple to serve the Lord. Her prayer changed from one of anxiety and vexation to one of joy: “My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in my victory” (1 Sam 2:1). Hannah, waiting a lifetime for her child, gives him to the temple to serve God.
As my friends anxiously awaited their gift from God, their Samuel, they learned that there had been complications and that Samuel had died. The despair that one faces at the loss of a child is so great, so difficult that it is not possible to be imagined, not even when it is one of your friends, not even when it is someone in your family. The constant grief that a parent must bear is heavy and unrelenting.
Hannah teaches us that children are a blessing from God. She also teaches us to pray: open and honest, in anxiety and frustration as one pouring out her soul to the Lord. In the pit of despair, God hears your cries and your prayers. At your worst, God is with you and listens to you. In your greatest suffering, God is suffering along with you.
The grieving process can take a lifetime and that’s ok. Let your prayers come before God, for he hears you and is with you.
In the Jewish Scriptures, known to Christians as the Old Testament, the figure of Hannah is important. Hannah was not able to have children. The Scriptures say that the Lord closed up her womb (1 Samuel 1:5) and because of this, other women provoked her to sadness. In her distress Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly and vowing that if ever she should have a son born to her, she would dedicate him to the temple. She was a woman in deep distress and prayed as one was pouring her soul out before the Lord.
When the priest of the temple saw her, he thought she was drunk and he rebuked her saying, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine” (1 Sam 1:14). But Hannah answered him, “Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time” (1 Sam 1:16). Eli, the priest of the Temple, upon hearing Hannah’s situation, blessed her and said, “Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made him.” She left, went home and was saddened no more.
In due time Hannah conceived a son and she named him Samuel, which means he who is sent from God. As she promised, she brought him to the temple to serve the Lord. Her prayer changed from one of anxiety and vexation to one of joy: “My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in my victory” (1 Sam 2:1). Hannah, waiting a lifetime for her child, gives him to the temple to serve God.
As my friends anxiously awaited their gift from God, their Samuel, they learned that there had been complications and that Samuel had died. The despair that one faces at the loss of a child is so great, so difficult that it is not possible to be imagined, not even when it is one of your friends, not even when it is someone in your family. The constant grief that a parent must bear is heavy and unrelenting.
Hannah teaches us that children are a blessing from God. She also teaches us to pray: open and honest, in anxiety and frustration as one pouring out her soul to the Lord. In the pit of despair, God hears your cries and your prayers. At your worst, God is with you and listens to you. In your greatest suffering, God is suffering along with you.
The grieving process can take a lifetime and that’s ok. Let your prayers come before God, for he hears you and is with you.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Reflections
I will take up weeping and wailing. Jeremiah 9:10
The image of God that we are taught in books, classes and churches is usually an austere, cold, distance God. Jeremiah paints a different picture. The prophet Jeremiah paints a picture of a God who is affected by what is going on in the world. God says, “O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night…I will take up weeping and wailing” (Jeremiah 9:1, 10). The Gospel writer John, when reporting on the death of Lazarus, notes that, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).
When William Sloane Coffin, an American preacher and scholar, experienced the death of his young son in a tragic car accident, he was not consoled by visitors who brought with them, casseroles, well-meaning bible verses, and the self-protecting words in an otherwise unspeakable situation, “It was the will of God.”
In regards to God’s will, Sloane Coffin says, “Never do we know enough to say that [it was the will of God]. My own consolation lies in knowing that it was not the will of God that Alex die; that when the waves closed over the sinking car, God's heart was the first of all our hearts to break.”
Heartbreak is a part of who God is and who God has been throughout all of human history. God’s heart breaks with yours. The pain is deep, but God is good and God is with you in your grief.
The image of God that we are taught in books, classes and churches is usually an austere, cold, distance God. Jeremiah paints a different picture. The prophet Jeremiah paints a picture of a God who is affected by what is going on in the world. God says, “O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night…I will take up weeping and wailing” (Jeremiah 9:1, 10). The Gospel writer John, when reporting on the death of Lazarus, notes that, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).
When William Sloane Coffin, an American preacher and scholar, experienced the death of his young son in a tragic car accident, he was not consoled by visitors who brought with them, casseroles, well-meaning bible verses, and the self-protecting words in an otherwise unspeakable situation, “It was the will of God.”
In regards to God’s will, Sloane Coffin says, “Never do we know enough to say that [it was the will of God]. My own consolation lies in knowing that it was not the will of God that Alex die; that when the waves closed over the sinking car, God's heart was the first of all our hearts to break.”
Heartbreak is a part of who God is and who God has been throughout all of human history. God’s heart breaks with yours. The pain is deep, but God is good and God is with you in your grief.
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