Pregnancy and Infant Loss
The loss of a pregnancy or infant is difficult and painful. While
research and medicine have made great progress over the years, most
perinatal losses still go unexplained. At St.Vincent Women’s Hospital,
we provide education, comfort and healing for parents searching for
answers and peace.
The Center for Perinatal Loss
St.Vincent’s Center for Perinatal Loss offers programs and resources
for grieving families in a warm, healing environment. Although nothing
can erase the pain caused by the loss of a child, we can help ease it,
guide you towards healing, and perhaps help you find hope for your next
pregnancy. For more information, please call (317) 415-7494.
At the Center for Perinatal Loss, our programs and services include:
Resolve Through Sharing
A program that provides
parents with support and guidance through the pain that accompanies a
miscarriage, stillbirth and/or neonatal loss. This program offers a
variety of opportunities for emotional and spiritual support as you
connect with other families who share your experience.
Perinatal Hospice
This program assists families
who have received a diagnosis for their infant in utero that will most
likely be fatal prior to birth, at birth or shortly after birth. To help
you better understand your diagnosis, cope with your experiences and
begin the healing process, we offer education, assistance and compassion
by means of phone calls, e-mail or personal visits.
Perinatal Loss Evaluation Program
The Perinatal
Loss Evaluation Program provides parents the opportunity to investigate
the cause of their baby’s death, using maternal and fetal labs,
placental evaluation and/or autopsy. Through compassion and support, we
encourage families to choose a course of action they feel most
comfortable pursuing.
Our program is designed with three options of maternal and
fetal/neonatal evaluation from which the physician and family can
choose.
- Option I – Reviewing medical records, supplemental laboratories, photographs, and x-rays
- Option II – All aspects of Option I plus sending the placenta to
St.Vincent pathology for evaluation by our pediatric pathologist
- Option III – All aspects of Option I and II plus sending the baby’s
remains to St.Vincent for evaluation by our pediatric pathologist
After all of the available components of the case have been reviewed,
conclusions, recommendations, additional testing and appropriate
referrals to specialists will be made on a case by case basis. Finally
and most importantly, a letter outlining the findings of the case will
be sent to both the family and referring physician. It is our sincerest
hope that the findings of the evaluation will help families resolve
their grief and give them guidance for reproductive planning in the
future.
All necessary supplies and instructions have been provided to the
majority of hospitals in the state in Indiana. Many of the documents
can also be downloaded below. To enroll a patient in the Perinatal Loss
Evaluation Program, please call ONE-Call at (317) 338-5000.
Forms and Resources for Providers
Perinatal Loss Evaluation Program Resource Guide for Providers
Perinatal Loss Evaluation Program – Option I
Perinatal Loss Evaluation Program – Option II
Perinatal Loss Evaluation Program – Option III
For more information about the Center for Perinatal Loss, please call (317) 415-7494.