Memorialization & Legacy Building Flashcards

What is the primary purpose of creating memory boxes for bereaved families following a perinatal loss?

Answer: To provide tangible connections to the baby and support the grieving process

Memory boxes provide tangible mementos that help families maintain a lasting connection to their baby and support the natural grieving process over time.

Which nonprofit organization trains volunteer photographers to provide healing images of stillborn or deceased infants to bereaved families?

Answer: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS)

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) is a nonprofit that trains volunteer photographers to provide respectful, healing images to families experiencing perinatal loss.

When is the most appropriate time to introduce memorialization options to a bereaved family in a hospital setting?

Answer: Before or shortly after delivery, while still in the hospital

Offering memorialization options before or shortly after delivery, while the family is in the hospital, ensures opportunities to create irreplaceable mementos are not lost.

Which of the following items is most commonly included in a perinatal memory box?

Answer: Ink or clay hand and footprints, a lock of hair, and photographs

Ink or clay hand and footprints, locks of hair, and photographs are standard tangible mementos that families can cherish as lasting reminders of their baby.

When a family initially declines memory-making activities at the time of perinatal loss, the best practice is to:

Answer: Create and safely store mementos in case the family changes their mind later

Many families who initially decline mementos later regret not having them; creating and safely storing them preserves the option for families to claim them when ready.

The 'continuing bonds' theory, as applied to perinatal memorialization, holds that:

Answer: Maintaining an ongoing emotional connection to the deceased supports healthy grieving

The continuing bonds theory, developed by Klass, Silverman, and Nickman, holds that maintaining an emotional connection to the deceased is healthy and normal rather than something to be overcome.

Hand and footprint molds, ink impressions, and plaster casts created after a perinatal loss are best described as:

Answer: Tangible legacy-building activities that preserve the baby's physical presence

These impression activities create lasting, tactile mementos that form a tangible legacy of the baby's physical presence, which families can hold and treasure.