Surrounded by St. Tammany Health System executives and care providers, St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper delivered a proclamation on Sept. 30 in recognition of National Stillbirth Prevention and Awareness Day and the health system’s continued work on behalf of bereaved parents.
“Every family experiencing pregnancy or infant loss deserves compassionate and dignified care, including meaningful opportunities to honor and remember their child, regardless of where they live or receive medical care,” Cooper said, reading from the proclamation during a brief ceremony in the lobby of the health system’s flagship St. Tammany Parish Hospital.
Afterward, he presented a copy of the proclamation to health system Bereavement Nurse Navigator Kristi Lamarque-Bordelon, who – along with State Sen. Patrick McMath and Rep. Kim Carver – was a driving force behind the passage earlier this year of Angel’s Law, which establishes standards of bereavement care for Louisiana families experiencing the loss of an infant or child.
Lamarque-Bordelon also played a key role in the organization earlier this month of the inaugural Walking with Angels: A Walk of Remembrance, an STHS-hosted event honoring families who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, or the loss of a child.
National Stillbirth Prevention and Awareness Day is recognized every year on Sept. 19 to increase public awareness about the more than 20,000 babies who are stillborn in the United States every year, to promote stillbirth research and prevention, and to support those parents who have experienced stillbirth.