Pediatric and Perinatal Memorial Services

Stephanie Miller, a hospice chaplain, discusses pediatric and perinatal memorial services and implementing such a service at Alive Hospice.

In the fall of 2008, I was privileged to visit Hospice of Chattanooga in Chattanooga, TN. I wanted to observe a similar-sized hospice and shadow a chaplain and bereavement counselor for a day to glean new knowledge and share experiences. I was also able to attend a memorial service that they sponsored for the community, honoring the families of babies who had died. It was a moving service with poignant rituals and moments that honored the lives of those we were there to celebrate, no matter how short.

In discussing the memorial service with Amy Brin, director of our Alive Monarchs program for pediatric and perinatal patients, it was very clear that this event was needed here at Alive Hospice, both by our families as a way to remember, and by our staff as a way to honor Alive’s young patients who had died. We hoped it would be well-received by staff and families as a sacred space to which they could come and continue the process of healing.