Sisters join forces to help families grieving after miscarriage

January 19, 2023

It isn’t often that career paths cross for the Rev. Lindsay Kirkpatrick and her sister, Andrea Wursche, a registered nurse at Houston Methodist Hospital. 

But when inspiration struck, the two launched an action plan to help women during one of their greatest times of need — after a miscarriage or stillbirth. 

Kirkpatrick, the senior pastor at Asbury United Methodist Church in Pasadena, took her sister to a birthday Tex-Mex lunch in 2021. At one point, Wursche began talking about the many challenges labor and delivery nurses face. 

Even after working in the department for about a decade, she often felt lost when entering the room of a patient who had just lost a baby. Knowing what to say after a miscarriage or stillbirth eluded her, and other nurses told her they felt the same way.

“There are no words for that,” she said. “To know how to navigate it is very difficult.”

Wursche had heard about training courses that could help nurses in this situation.

She also learned about a cuddle cot, an in-room cooling unit in a bassinet, that allows the baby to remain in the room with family longer. When parents have more time with the baby, it helps the grieving process. 

“I wish there was something we could do, but I don’t know where to start,” Wursche told her sister. 

Read the full article here.

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