PERINATAL BEREAVEMENT TRAINING
EDUCATION + EMPATHY = EMPOWERMENT
Three Little Birds offers various training packages and options for perinatal professionals, loss parents/advocates and photographers seeking to incorporate bereavement education into their professional or personal background as a way to give back to support the perinatal loss community. Our training program is available for purchase and facilitation here in the Philadelphia/South Jersey region or to groups who may want to start their own Three Little Birds chapter in their own community. There are also options to purchase material support items - all of which are a tax deductible donation to support Three Little Bird's mission.
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Goals of this training
This training program has been designed to be self-paced and virtual for the benefit of the trainees. The intended learning outcomes of the virtual training include:
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Be familiar and more comfortable with the discussion of perinatal loss at any trimester
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Understand the need for medical professional training to walk the journey with these families
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Recognizing the importance of having non-clinical advocates available to bridge the gap for families and providers
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Be open to discussing difficult topics, learning about new concepts and opening your heart to new perspectives
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Be prepared to dedicate a few hours a week to reading, viewing videos, engaging in conversation with others
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Be ready to empower themselves with knowledge and empathy
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Understanding the sacred bonds between parent and child do not end at death and we can help strengthen those bonds through memory making and photography
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How to effectively hold space, utilize empathy to enter the fog of grief and differentiate between sympathy and empathy
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Cultivate cultural competency and death rituals
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Use effective communication to connect with parents through scripts
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Validate families in all scenarios
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Gauge grief reactions and when to present options and understanding the influence of generational, cultural and religious influences when dealing with end-of-life situations
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Have a general understanding of and provide the gift of infant remembrance portraiture and memory making
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Be familiar with using scripts to communicate and utilizing resources to assist in decision making
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Be confident in understanding basic posing and photography concepts and using a DSLR camera
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Understand the rights of the family and the immediate resources available to them to support burial/cremation and post-partum support
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Utilize concepts presented in training during hands-on scenarios
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Training format
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Weekly emails with video content covering specific topics and required reading are provided. Videos range from 10-60+ minutes/week (40 hours total) over the course of six weeks. The training is designed to be self-paced to ensure flexibility with schedules.
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Weekly tests are conducted via Google Forms and graded to ensure basic concepts, methodologies and relevant content has been reviewed and retained.
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The final test includes choosing a real life scenario, walking the journey with them via a Google Form test and providing a gallery of photographs taken utilizing a doll or teddy bear to demonstrate an understanding of a basic Three Little Birds session.
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Certification
Upon successful completion of the course content and final test, trainees will receive a certification of completion and access to basic resource materials. This certification is good for one year from issuance and includes several perks to be trained by our organization.
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Please note, at this time we are unable to provide Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for this training. The tuition payment, however, is a tax deductible donation and trainees who complete certification will be gifted our basic resources package.
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Ideal trainees
Our current training options are available for perinatal professionals and loss parents/advocates. This includes physicians, nurses and birth professionals seeking to develop a Bedside Bereavement Program at your facility or for loss parents/advocates that want to develop a community of support for families walking the journey of loss.
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Coming soon!
We will be offering other packages/mini trainings for volunteer photographers and mental health professionals seeking to develop support groups and events to support perinatal loss.
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Tuition rates
Please see our Registration page for more information on package options and scholarship opportunities!
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Meet your instructor
Kristen Samuelson unwillingly found the baby loss community when she experienced the loss of her first born baby, a girl named Jimmie. Shortly thereafter, she experienced an ectopic pregnancy which nearly took her life. Dissatisfied by the quality of resources and support provided to her by her care team and the lack of a peer supported community, she and other advocates founded Three Little Birds Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support, a peer-led non-profit supporting miscarriage, stilllbirth and infant loss and pregnancy after loss in the Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey region. What started as a small idea and need for connection, birthed into a community of strangers who are united by the deepest wounds in their heart, all seeking to healing and support for others. After years of volunteering support to local hospitals Kristen transitioned her career as a technical writer/marketing coordinator to use her passion and knowledge as a perinatal bereavement specialist to professionally manage the organization's services, programs and administrative functions and advance its overall mission. This also included providing education to providers and collaborating with many other professionals and advocates to develop our training program and the expansion of our Bedside Bereavement Program. She is the main author and presenter of our Training Program.
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