SUID/SIDS Prevention
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Resource Center staff sat down with two Tomorrow's Child/Michigan SIDS bereavement support nurses for a half-hour in September 2008 to learn about bereavement support and grief counseling from those who work on the front lines. Project IMPACT and the Resource Center have collaborated to provide the following podcast. In this podcast, Ms. Jeanne Sullivan and Ms. Kathy Brandenburg speak of their experiences providing home visits to grieving families. They discuss common themes that arise for mothers, fathers, extended family and friends after the loss of a pregnancy or the death of an infant. |
Entire Podcast |
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In the full podcast (21:31), Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Brandenburg have an intimate discussion of home visits that have made impressions on their work. | |
Excerpts |
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In this excerpt (5:10), Ms. Brandenburg describes her first bereavement client, a teenaged mother who had lost one of her twins at birth. In the story, the issue of multiple losses occurring to a mother at the same time is addressed. | |
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In this excerpt (4:00), Ms. Sullivan describes her first bereavement client, a woman in her early 20s who lost twins at 18 weeks gestation, and discusses the dual complications of dealing with guilt and pain. | |
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In this excerpt (3:42), Ms. Brandenburg relates the experience of a woman who had lost her faith after a miscarriage at 20 weeks, and how bereavement support allowed her to climb back on her feet by talking more openly than she could with friends, family or even clergy. | |
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In this excerpt (2:50), Ms. Sullivan discusses how an otherwise well adjusted woman was able to move through her grief by crying openly for the first time with the bereavement support nurse, something she had been unable to do with her husband, mother or therapist. | |
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In this excerpt (2:12), Ms. Brandenburg describes how simply talking about the loss can allow a bereaved parent to begin to move on. | |
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In this excerpt (1:22), Ms. Sullivan shares the story of her own pregnancy loss, 37 years after the fact, the experience mirroring those of many bereaved mothers she has treated in her current work. | |
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In this excerpt (3:48), Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Brandenburg relate the story of a woman whose multiple pregnancy losses over 20 years had left significant unresolved grief, and how the bereavement support process allowed her to heal after many years. | |
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Jeanne Sullivan, R.N., has over 40 years of nursing experience, having received her degree from St. John's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. Early in her career, she was a pediatric nurse and childbirth educator. She has also served as a nurse educator in an adolescent group home and a pregnancy prevention program coordinator. Most recently, she has served as a community health nurse and an HIV program coordinator in Ingham County, Michigan. Currently, she works with Tomorrow's Child/Michigan SIDS as a bereavement support nurse in their Home Visitor Program. |
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Kathy Brandenburg, R.N., B.S.N., has nearly 30 years of nursing experience. She received her degree from the University of Kansas. Kathy began her career in acute care, both at the bedside and in education. Later she moved into outpatient and community work in both family practice and Maternal/Infant support. Most recently she has served as a bereavement support nurse for Tomorrow’s Child/Michigan SIDS in their Home Visitor Program. Currently, Ms. Brandenburg serves as Project IMPACT’s Program Director. |