Latest news with #griefSupport
Washington Post
7 hours ago
- Health
- Washington Post
Dads, healthy fish and the benefits of singing: The week in Well+Being
You are reading our weekly Well+Being newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every Thursday. This weekend is Father's Day. It's a time that can be joyous or bittersweet, depending on your relationship with your father. The latter is particularly true if your parent has died, like Jordan Sondler's. This week, she writes about how she found deep comfort looking for 'signs' from her father, a tip she learned from a grief-support group. I could definitely relate, since my dad died a few years ago. I have him to thank for my formidable lawn-mowing skills, ability to ride a bike and much more, so I always appreciate the other dads out there, like the one in our Ask a Therapist column looking for the best way to raise his young son with love and affection. But before that … You might know that eating seafood is good for your brain, eyes and heart health. So why aren't you eating more of it? If you don't have it on your regular rotation at mealtimes, you're not alone — 90 percent of adults aren't hitting recommended intake targets. Part of the problem is that the seafood landscape can be confusing. There are so many options — from shrimp to salmon to canned tuna — how do you know which ones to eat? This week, nutrition reporter Anahad O'Connor took a deep dive into the best types of seafood, detailing those that are relatively low in mercury, high in omega-3 fats, sustainable, as well as accessible and affordable. First up is salmon, of course. While farmed salmon can certainly be a good choice, wild salmon is almost always the better option. 'Wild salmon is a triple win because it's high in good fats, low in mercury and sustainable,' Sonya Lunder, the director of community science at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Anahad. For more great choices, check out our guide to choosing the healthiest seafood. If you are a car karaoke aficionado, you'll be glad to hear that music has the power to soothe the mind, promote brain health and bring people closer together. Singing, listening to music or making music all promote health. And the wonderful part about it is that the barrier to entry is low. Even if you won't be trying out for the opera any time soon, you can reap the benefits, according to our brain health writer, Richard Sima. For example, singing karaoke was linked to increased feelings of flow and meaning in life, reported one 2022 study of 305 older adults, so there's no need to sleep on this wellness trend. 'Nobody says you shouldn't jog if you are not good at it,' Daniel Levitin, a professor emeritus of neuroscience at McGill University and dean of arts and humanities at Minerva University, told Richard. 'That's not the point.' For some great tips on how to use your love of music to create and connect with others, check out our story on the health benefits of making music. This week, our Ask a Therapist columnist is Joshua Coleman, a clinical psychologist in the San Francisco Bay Area and senior fellow with the Council on Contemporary Families. My wife and I have a 4-year-old son. I'm very affectionate with him — I hug him a lot, tell him I love him and comfort him when he cries. But my wife is starting to express concern that I'll make him 'soft.' We're both good parents, but this is starting to create real tension. How do we resolve a parenting difference that touches on something so personal? It is common for people to parent similarly to how they were raised. It's partly role modeling, and partly a way to feel close to our parents by being aligned with them and sharing their values. At the same time, it's common to reinterpret painful childhood experiences in a more favorable light — to convince ourselves that what was hard was ultimately necessary. If your wife had a strict, emotionally distant father, she may have come to believe that his approach helped shape her strength — and that your son will need the same. You don't have to agree about everything in parenting to find common ground. Make it clear that your disagreements are about approach, not character. Get more useful tips on navigating a conflict if you can't agree on a parenting approach by reading the full response below. If you have a question for a therapist about mental health, relationships, sleep, dating or any other topic, email it to AskATherapist@ and we may feature it in a future column. Here are a few things that brought us joy this week. Let's keep the conversation going. We want to hear from you! Email us at wellbeing@ Want to know more about 'joy' snacks? Reporter and former neuroscientist Richard Sima explains what they are and how they can make you feel happier. You can also read his advice as a comic.
CBC
15 hours ago
- Health
- CBC
Family who lost their baby donates a cuddle cot to Timmins hospital to give other families more time to grieve
Social Sharing Sheelah Carbonneau and Justin McCarthy of Timmins had precious few moments with their son Felix. He died two years ago, just hours after he was born. "There's nothing else more important than time," Carbonneau said. "For example, I never dressed him in the clothes that I brought him to bring him home from the hospital. And I think I would have liked to have had him in that outfit." She later found out about a device called a cuddle cot. It's a cooling system for an infant who has died to be placed into and it preserves the infant's body for up to 24 hours so families can have an extra day to say goodbye. "I just thought of it immediately as an opportunity to give families time," said Carbonneau. "Especially after the trauma of childbirth, and then the emotions of welcoming your child and then saying goodbye to your child, there's nothing like having a little bit of time to process and to be able to decide how you want to say goodbye and how you want to honour your baby." Carbonneau reached out to the Timmins and District Hospital Foundation and asked if the hospital was interested in having a cuddle cot, and staff said they would love to have one but it wasn't currently listed as a priority item. She decided to buy one for $3,000 and give it to the hospital. "We're very fortunate to have it," said Alexander Langevin, manager of the maternal child program at Timmins and District Hospital. Langevin said the hospital had been reviewing different processes and options for grieving families in recent years and acknowledged a cuddle cot would be a useful device to have. He confirmed that due to other equipment needs at the hospital, the cuddle cot was not a top priority item, however, they are grateful to have one now. "The cuddle cot really fit the bill for everything we required," said Langevin. "Not hoping to use it, but we understand the reality that it will happen and at least that way we could comfort those families who may experience this in the future."
BBC News
02-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Football match to raise awareness of baby loss
This article contains details about baby loss and grief. For a range of organisations and charities offering advice and support, please access the BBC Action Line. A charity football match has been organised in a bid to raise awareness of baby loss. Lewis Robinson set up the match to raise money for organisations that supported him and his wife through the loss of their wife Shannon was 23 weeks pregnant when they found out their son Amor's heart had stopped before he was born at Nuneaton's George Eliot Hospital in February. "I wanted to do something to make him [Amor] proud but also to raise awareness and support other families," Mr Robinson, who works for Sky Blues in the Community (SBITC), said. Proceeds will go to baby loss charity SANDS and the SBITC MENtalk project which aims to support men's mental health. The couple, who had to go through childbirth and then arrange a funeral, were supported by the George Eliot bereavement team as well as Robinson said he found the focus of support was with the mum's journey and he wanted to encourage more men to talk about what they go through. With the help of Sands, the pair have organised a charity match between SBITC and Sands United, which will take place at President Kennedy School in Coventry on 7 June."It will be a great way to celebrate Amor's life while supporting other families," added Mr Robinson. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
02-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Siblings need help through baby loss too, say bereaved parents
Parents whose babies have died shortly after being born are calling for more support to be made available for children left bereft by the loss of their Hurt said when she lost her baby Theo seven years ago, she dreaded having to tell her daughter that her baby brother was not coming Stars, a Nottinghamshire-based charity that helps parents, is aiming to raise £60,000 to expand its affected families say nothing can truly ease the pain of baby loss, they have been joining in fundraising efforts to help children come to terms with grief. 'Awkward thing' In the UK, an estimated one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage, while one in 250 babies are Hurt said explaining the death of a baby to her daughter when she was so young made the grief even more difficult."I was devastated for us, but I was really devastated for her," she said"Seeing my scan and seeing my stomach growing, she saw that I was going to all the appointments and stuff and she saw the scan photos and she was expecting us to come home with a baby, and we had to explain to her that there wasn't going to be."It's such an awkward thing to say especially to someone that is four years old and doesn't understand death anyway." Forever Stars, which is based in Beeston, estimates raising £60,000 will allow it to support 60 latest fundraising events have included a football match where every player was honouring a baby they had Soundy, who captained the Forever Stars team in memory of his son Noah, said he was given time with his baby son in a specialist suite at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre, which was funded by the charity he now supports."It's a room that obviously no-one ever wants to go in, but to be able to spend some time there with him really did mean a lot," he said."It basically meant we got to spend a couple of days with our son - there was a cold cot in there and we had a couple of days just us away from the world." Forever Stars founder Richard Daniels sadly knows all too well just how vital that support for siblings can be, having lost his daughter Emily 12 years ago."We had a five-year-old son, and I had to come home and tell him that the sister we had been getting him all excited about and including him in all the plans for the nursery, that had all stopped, and that Emily wasn't coming home," he said."He went from being a really happy-go-lucky child to be being a really quite angry young man and wanting to break things and being cross with us for not bringing Emily home."We looked for what we could do to support him and play therapy was the avenue but it is such a scarce resource."
BBC News
17-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Attleborough woman creates journals for baby loss
A woman who suffered baby loss 28 weeks into her pregnancy has set up a project to help others coping with Wilbourne, from Attleborough, Norfolk, fell pregnant six years after being told she could not have a few months into her pregnancy in January, it became clear to doctors that baby Matilda had very serious medical conditions and Ms Wilbourne was advised to have a termination for medical 25-year-old turned to journaling to deal with her emotional struggles, before setting up Matilda's Legacy, designing grief books for others dealing with baby loss. Ms Wilbourne said: "We was so shocked to find out that we was pregnant in the first place after being told for so long that it wasn't going to happen.""Obviously we was over the moon, and then it slowly was all taken away from us." She said they were advised by various medical experts that Matilda "would have no quality of life and would not even be able to sit in a wheelchair due to her serious conditions".Ms Wilbourne was offered a termination "for medical reasons a few times, but it wasn't until we had checked every available avenue to change her outcome did we make the decision to have a medical termination and induced labour". Ms Wilbourne struggled to deal with the loss, despite having a supportive partner and family. "My actual bereavement midwives were absolutely brilliant. I can't fault them at all," she said."However I have ADHD and really struggle talking about my emotions. I bottle things up and then let them come out in different ways, which isn't good for me."She decided to start writing Matilda a letter each day, expressing her daily emotions."I could go back and reflect on my good days and my bad days, and know that I am getting there, making progress with coming to terms with what happened," she Wilbourne added that the "privacy of the journal", essentially a conversation between herself and her baby, was, she believed, the secret of its success for her."Nobody else has to see what I've said. I can be 100% honest with how I'm feeling," she Wilbourne said she finds talking to new people difficult and journaling is something she can do herself, knowing "nobody is going to question me on it, unless I want to share it".For every two notebooks sold, one would be donated to her local bereavement midwife team, to give to women who have lost a child, as well as fathers and siblings. If you, or someone you know, have been affected by this story, please visit the BBC Action Line to find information on organisations that can help. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
