October is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. The CDC reports that over 1 million pregnancies end in miscarriage or stillbirth each year. In this blog, we’ll review some ideas for comforting gifts that are appropriate for families who may have experienced a loss. These same items are also appropriate NICU gift ideas.
Beyond this, many other newborns end up in the NICU for days, weeks, or even months. Our product line is designed to support NICU nurses, Child-Life Specialists, Chaplains, and anyone else looking to offer compassionate care to the families who have experienced a loss or are caring for a sick child.
NICU Gift Ideas
Our signature tool is our ClayLinks Print Kit. These kits can be used as a bereavement support tool or a child life activity to make handprint or footprint impressions of babies and children. Our kits can even be used for premature babies when paired with our Ink Pads for Preemie Prints.
However, when a loss occurs early in a pregnancy, there is typically no way to offer a keepsake like a hand or footprint. Additionally, it may feel inappropriate to offer other keepsakes like baby hats or blankets. We added our Heart TouchStones to our product line as a way to acknowledge and honor early pregnancy loss.
Our Heart TouchStones can be held, touched, rubbed, or carried in a pocket as tangible reminders of healing and comfort.
As a personal note, I carried a very similar Rose Quartz with me for a full year after my miscarriage and it was immensely comforting.
Heart TouchStones are currently available in Rose Quartz and Green Aventurine and are about 40mm in size.
For many people, stones are imbued with symbolic qualities. When one is given a stone, it is believed that those qualities are also given to them. For example, Rose Quartz is said to promote emotional healing, release of stress, and self-love and Green Aventurine may promote calm, comfort, and protection of the heart.
Heart TouchStones can also be used as a self-care tool for yourself or gift for your team. Consider handing these out to your team as a symbol of your commitment to their mental and emotional wellness. Or, use them as a grounding tool before entering into an emotional situation.
Until next time,
Bryn Frisina
Chief Growth Officer
World by the Tail, Inc.