058 IRIS: Infants Remembered In Silence with Diana Kelley

Description

In this special episode honoring Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, Michelle has the privilege to have a conversation with Diana Kelley, the director of Infants Remembered In Silence © (IRIS) a 501(c)3 Nonprofit organization that she founded in 1987, following the full-term stillbirth of her son. Together they discuss how the care parents experiencing baby loss receive has become more compassionate throughout the years and the extreme value having someone to sit with us in our grief and give space for the power of silence. Diana shares sage advice for bereaved families, how IRIS's services have grown and evolved over the last 33 years, and IRIS's project to invite cities across the nation to light up buildings, statues, and monuments on October 15th in honor Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Day. Thank you cities of St. Cloud and Orlando, Florida for your support!

We invite you to share photos of your cities remembering our babies gone too soon. We would be honored to have you tag is on Facebook and Instagram @birtheaselosssuport and @Infants Remembered in Silence

"Well, it used to be that people thought that you're not going to remember if you don't get to see, hold, and touch. We discovered that wasn't real. Then we discovered that people forget, and even if they can't communicate with you very well, their body still remembers. They still know themselves that this is when my child died passed away. And I think that is something that is really hard to comprehend. But at a certain point, your thinking changes from being, "I am never going to be able to forget this. This is a huge impact on my life." to things changing to where you're afraid you're going to forget it and then it becomes your mission to make sure others don't forget."—Diana Kelley

{This episode is dedicated to the Smith babies. You are forever safe and loved within our hearts.}

About Diana Kelley:

Diana Kelley uses her personal and career experiences to help grieving parents through their birth process and in the years of grieving that follow the death of a child. Diana provides grieving parents with the support they need when their life seems unfair and more than they can handle. As a bereaved parent herself, she knows how grief can affect every aspect of one’s life, as well as the lives of their loved ones and friends.

Diana became involved in Childbirth Education following the birth of her first child in 1981. By 1984 she was a Certified Childbirth Educator working in her local hospital with hundreds of families each year and training/certifying new instructors. In 2012, after 31 years, she left the organization to expand her teaching and certifying instruction with Infants Remembered In Silence © (IRIS) a 501(c)3 Nonprofit organization that she founded in 1987, following the full term stillbirth of her son.

Today IRIS services include: Bereavement Support Materials and Burial Clothing Sets designed by Diana and several other IRIS volunteers. (These Clothing Sets fit infants from 10 - 42 Gestational weeks and include matching blanket and hat, along with everything needed to work directly with the child in the hospital and funeral home settings). IRIS offers Support Group Gatherings, Special Events including the October 15th Memorial Service at the IRIS Office - in front of an Angel weeping over an empty cradle – a bronze, life-sized statue, arranges for countless buildings, monuments, bridges, etc. to be lit for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, Holiday Service of Remembrance and more. These supplies and countless other resources, including the book, Sharing the Tears by Diana Kelley, are available on the IRIS website.

Diana services as the executive director of IRIS. She lives in Faribault MN along with her four surviving children and one grandchild.

Connect with Diana Kelly:

Email: diana@irisRemembers.com

Website: www.irisRemembers.com

FB Business Page: https://www.facebook.com/InfantsRememberedinSilence

FB Infants Remembered In Silence Private Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/163068716993

Angel of Hope Central Florida:

Facebook: @AngelofHopeCFL

Website: https://angelofhopecfl.wordpress.com/

Connect with Michelle Smith:

Website: BirthEaseServices.com

Facebook: Birth Ease, The Birth Ease Podcast, Birth Ease Baby Loss Support