9/11

Oh the wonderful read that met my eyes this morning. Many of us still remember, still recall, still are affected by, the events of 9/11. I am one of those. When I rolled out of bed this morning the first thing that pressed in on my mind was where I was at when the events of 9/11 unfolded.

When I logged on this morning, I found doulamomma's post. I will repost the article she cites.

Childbirth Education and Doula Care During Times of Stress, Trauma, and Grieving
Debra Pascali-Bonaro, BEd, CD(DONA)

"Immediately after the events of September 11, 2001, I was privileged to play a unique role: coordinating a volunteer program to provide support and service to pregnant women in the greater New York/New Jersey area, where I live, who had been widowed by the terrorist attack. The result was an unprecedented collaborative effort supported by numerous related agencies and individual providers. Despite the group’s impressively amassed knowledge and resources, we identified many gaps in our understanding of how to address the needs of the widows of 9/11 and, in addition, how to generalize such understanding for the needs of other pregnant women in our area who were experiencing stress, trauma, and grief for any reason."

On this day, a day of remembrance, let us honor those whose lives were cut short too quickly, those they left behind, and the volunteers, like Operation Special Delivery (OSD), who continue to give hope and testament to all that is good and right with mankind in a time where there seems to be so much evil and wrong.

If you are an expectant mama, and your partner has been injured, lost their life, or will be deployed/active during your birthing time, you are eligible for the free-services of OSD.

And finally, since we are on the topic of stress, trauma, grief, volunteer support, and the like, let us not forget both the women who volunteer for The Birth Attendants, but also the women they support.