Examples of Tote Uses in Facilities

Emergency Rooms

If a mother comes in due to cramping and bleeding, the Miscarriage Supply Tote can help. The tote contains appropriate vessels if the baby is passed on the gurney. Next, the tote also has miscarriage kits to keep the baby from falling into a toilet (especially automatic flush toilets) for when the mother passes the baby while using the restroom. As well, the tote includes miscarriage kits and vessel covers to send home with the mother if she is returning home to complete the miscarriage.

Doctors Offices

If a mother finds out about her impending miscarriage at her doctor’s office, the tote will enable the office to send her home with the appropriate supplies. If the mother calls in to say that she miscarried or if blood work shows that she will be miscarrying, the her doctor’s office can invite her to come in to pick up a miscarriage kit or burial vessel and appropriate vessel wrap from the tote.

Funeral Homes

If a miscarried baby is sent to a lab for testing, the family may not be able to personally obtain their baby’s remains from the lab and instead will need a funeral home to do so. The babies sometimes return from the lab in various medical vessels instead of a nice burial vessel. The miscarriage tote has various burial vessels that the funeral home can transfer the baby into and then place the vessel in a nice cloth wrap before presentation to the family. There are also small caskets available in the tote. I frequently hear of funeral homes offering cremation for miscarried babies. The resources in the totes will enable the funeral home to offer burial without cremation. This also enables a funeral home to assist a family if they call saying they have had a miscarriage and are looking for an appropriate casket or burial vessel.

Natural Family Planning Instructors

Sometimes the natural family planning instructor is one of the first people that a mother confides in when she finds out she is having a miscarriage. Having miscarriage supplies available in the instructor’s office enables the instructor to provide those resources to his or her clients. In my experience, I personally had someone call me at night because they needed a burial vessel for their baby since the doctor’s office and funeral home were both closed. My being able to provide that for the family brought them so much comfort. It is important that when the client notifies the instructor that she is pregnant, that the instructor lets her know that there are resources available if a miscarriage should happen. That reminds the client to keep the instructor informed regarding the pregnancy.

OB Units

If a mother is sent to the OB unit from the emergency room or doctor’s office to receive more specialized care in the midst of her miscarriage, she can benefit from the Miscarriage Supply Tote. The tote has appropriate burial vessels and wraps or a small casket for the hospital staff to present the baby to the family after the baby is born.

Pregnancy Resource Centers

If a pregnancy resource center encounters a woman who finds out that she is having a miscarriage, they can continue the support they have been giving the woman by providing her with miscarriage supplies from the Miscarriage Supply Tote.

Surgery Centers/Mothers Having a D&C

If a mother comes in for a D&C and takes her baby home with her, the surgery center could get an appropriate vessel and wrap from the tote to present the baby to the family. If the baby is being sent out to a lab for testing, the surgery center could still give the family an appropriate burial vessel and wrap to give to the funeral home for when they obtain the baby’s remains from the lab. The babies sometimes return from the lab in various medical vessels instead of a nice burial vessel.

Ultrasound Departments

If a mother comes in and there is no heartbeat and she is sent home to see if she miscarries on her own, she can be given a miscarriage kit and vessel cover out of the tote so that she is prepared.

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