Perinatal Bereavement Training - Fall 2024

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.

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:

- Using effective communication to connect with parents through scripts

- Validating families in all scenarios

- Gauging grief reactions and when to present options and understanding the influence of generational, cultural and religious influences when dealing with end-of-life situations

- Have a general understanding of and provide the gift of infant remembrance portraiture and memory making

- Be familiar with using scripts to communicate and utilizing resources to assist in decision making

- Be confident in understanding basic posing and photography concepts and using a DSLR camera

- Understand the rights of the family and the immediate resources available to them to support burial/cremation and post-partum support

Training format

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.

Weekly tests are conducted via Google Forms and graded to ensure basic concepts, methodologies and relevant content has been reviewed and retained.

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.

Goals of this training

Understand the need for medical professional training to walk the journey with these families

Recognizing the importance of having non-clinical advocates available to bridge the gap for families and providers

Be open to discussing difficult topics, learning about new concepts and opening your heart to new perspectives

Be prepared to dedicate a few hours a week to reading, viewing videos, engaging in conversation with others

Be ready to empower themselves with knowledge and empathy

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

How to effectively hold space, utilize empathy to enter the fog of grief and differentiate between sympathy and empathy

Cultivate cultural competency and death rituals

Utilize concepts presented in training during hands-on scenarios

Session 3 - Fall - Starts September 22 and ends November 2

The Week 1 email will be sent on September 22nd, with additional content sent weekly on Mondays. Trainees are free to explore the videos and required reading own their own schedule. Tests are due by Saturday for review and to receive the following week's content. The final Week 6 content will be emailed on October 27th. The final test and assignment is due by November 2. Certifications will be issued no later than November 9. Deadline to register September 17, 2024.

Please note before you register:

• Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are not provided.
• Registration fees are non-refundable and serve as a tax-deductible donation to Three Little Birds Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support
• Non-completion of the training program within the dates registered will result in disqualification from certification. Students will need to re-register to obtain certification. Only under specific circumstances will trainees be able to finish the certification (death in the family, major life event, etc).
• Scholarship applicants must apply for the scholarship prior to registering for the training program. If you are accepted, you will receive a promo code to use at registration check out.