YNHHS experts joined bereaved parents for the Joseph Keane Fund lecture last month. The lecture focused on best practices and care signature pathways for loved ones and clinicians dealing with perinatal bereavement.
Compassionate care backed by evidence-based protocols is a signature of every good health system. When navigating the loss of a child, that compassion becomes even more important.
Yale New Haven Health recently hosted the Joseph Keane Fund Perinatal Bereavement Lecture, “From Compassion to Clinical Excellence – Launching System-Wide Perinatal Bereavement Care Pathways Across Yale New Haven Health,” to exchange best practices and ensure families and providers feel supported when they need it most.
The event underscored YNHHS’ position as a national leader in perinatal bereavement care and represented the culmination of more than a decade of collaboration between the health system and the Joseph Keane Fund. The organization was founded in 2012 by Jessica and Tim Keane following the stillbirth of their son, Joseph, to promote compassionate care and implement standardized protocols for families facing perinatal loss.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research reveals the heartbreak of stillbirth or newborn loss affects approximately 41,000 mothers each year in the United States, and its impact extends far beyond. Lifelong consequences of this loss are felt by parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles and the medical professionals involved.
“No family should ever feel alone in their grief,” said Jessica Keane. “That’s why it matters so deeply to promote compassionate care and to ensure hospitals follow standardized protocols for perinatal loss. Families deserve support, guidance and dignity on the worst day of their lives.”
“I spent my career in business solving complex problems,” said Tim Keane, co-founder. “Losing Joseph – and learning the research data on the long-term impact of perinatal loss on families and providers – showed me the most impactful problem I could ever work on.”
Over one-third of mothers develop PTSD; suicide risk increases four-fold; and relationships often fracture.
“Those numbers made it clear we needed to take action,” Keane said. “What began as a program providing material resources has snowballed into a clinical pathway embedded in Epic across the entire Yale New Haven Health System.”
Lecture speakers discussed the clinical pathways, which include a multidisciplinary approach, mental health support and perspectives from patients and providers. They emphasized the impact of acknowledging the loss.
“Supporting families through perinatal loss means holding space for their grief while gently guiding them toward healing,” said Elisabeth Schneider, a perinatal bereavement counselor at Bridgeport Hospital. “No one should have to walk this path alone. That’s why this program is so important to have systemwide.”
“Honoring the life that was lost, no matter how brief, creates a space for families to grieve, to remember and ultimately to heal,” said neonatologist Angela Montgomery, MD, director of Perinatal-Neonatal Palliative Care services at Yale New Haven Hospital and associate professor of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine. “It’s a vital part of their journey toward finding meaning after unimaginable loss.”
