Press Release

First Autobiographical Text Source Used In Stillbirth Nurses Training; ‘Life Touches Life’ Now In Second Printing

Book Excerpt Provides Insight into Emotions of Holding Stillbirth Infant

Allendale, New Jersey - January 14, 2008 - Life Touches Life, by Lorraine Ash, the compelling story of the author’s stillbirth delivery and its life-altering impact and lessons, went into its second printing for distribution in mid-November. As a testament to the brave detail the author provides surrounding the moments when hospital staff hand the stillborn infant to her and her husband, a portion of the text has been excerpted for use in the 2008 Eighth Edition of OLDS’ Maternal-Newborn Nursing & Women’s Health Across the Lifespan, a textbook for nurses by Pearson Prentice Hall. For the first time, a textbook has made bereavement care part of the core curriculum for nurses in training.

“This is a remarkable breakthrough in thought and training for today’s medical educators and our healthcare institutions’ professional hospital staff,” says Ash. “Although we have found that our daughter is always with us, that short encounter was to be the only moment of physical embrace we were ever to have. You cannot take too much care or enable too much expertise for those who facilitate that experience. It is gratifying to be a part of these new teaching sensitivities.”

From the moment she casually mentions her baby's lack of recent movement to her doctor on the way to the hospital for delivery, Ash recounts her ensuing story with brutal accuracy and detail. Although Life Touches Life: A Mother's Story of Stillbirth and Healing proceeds as a tableau of restoration of life, it is the first few chapters surrounding the clinical loss of little Victoria that leave the reader reeling from the unstoppable and relentless series of events that define the stillbirth of a child.

Published by NewSage Press, Life Touches Life is in use across the country in programs of healing through support groups, ministries, and social work organizations. The new edition provides additional up-to-date resources for survivors of stillbirths and for anyone who supports or counsels stillbirth families. Copies are available at bookstores across the country and directly from the author’s website www.lorraineash.com. Discounted rates for group purchases can also be arranged. Although statistics show that stillbirths occur once in approximately every 200 births, Life Touches Life remains one of the few texts available as a resource to help educate regarding the stillbirth experience and its aftermath.

“Stillbirth is sometimes called the ‘last mystery of obstetrics’,” adds Ash. “Close to half of stillborn deaths result from unknown causes. What we do know is that the pain is beyond grievous and is lifelong. So, we work together as families, and as a group of survivors to support, educate, and soothe.”

About Lorraine Ash

Living with her husband Bill, in Allendale, New Jersey, Lorraine Ash is an author, journalist, and educator. For the past 25 years her feature articles and series have won national, state, and regional awards. She explores the themes of stillbirth, healing, loss, and rebirth in published essays and in another book-in-progress. She has taught college-level writing, and is a member of The International Women’s Writing Guild and The Association of Writers & Writing Programs. As a peer grief contact, she works one-on-one with mothers who have lost children to stillbirth and SIDS.

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