Hygeia®
is an international community of families who have endured the tragedy of
miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal / infant loss. Online since 1995 and with over 28,000
members, Hygeia® has become the most enduring program of compassion, empathy and support
pertaining to Perinatal Loss. Hygeia® provides programs to educate, counsel and support
families who grieve the loss of a pregnancy or newborn child, advocate for the healthcare of women and
children, worldwide, and promote humanism in the education of tomorrow's healthcare professionals.
The Hygeia Foundation, Inc.
is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization whose mission is to comfort those who grieve the
loss of a pregnancy or newborn child (from all causes; e.g. Miscarriage, Stillbirth,
Neonatal Death, Genetic Disorders), to address disparities in access to healthcare
services for medically and economically underserved families with respect, dignity and
advocacy and to provide advocacy and resources for maternal and child health. The Hygeia
Foundation, Inc. is striving to improve the awareness of the impact of perinatal, neonatal
and infant loss on families, community and society and supports the premise that perinatal
and infant morbidity and mortality can be affected by providing all women and their
families who have experienced perinatal losses e.g. Stillbirths, the availability of
perinatal bereavement counseling, pre- and inter-conception counseling( including an
evaluation and understanding of their losses) and access to comprehensive women's
healthcare services. In addition, it is our commitment to educate and support healthcare
professionals as they care for their patients experiencing perinatal and neonatal
loss. Our newly established headquarters will serve to conduct the business of the
organization and provide a unique, community resource and referral center for perinatal
loss and bereavement, inter-conception counseling and culturally-sensitive education
initiatives in an effort to improve the healthcare of underserved women and children in
the community and beyond. This peer-to-peer counseling and support will be provided by
certified bereavement counselors who are also bereaved parents.
Fetal and infant mortality rates have decreased dramatically over the last century with
improvements in sanitation, nutrition, infant feeding, and maternal and child health care,
although the decline has been slower in recent years. However, disparities in the risk of
infant death remain. Black and Hispanic teens are more than twice as likely as white teens
to mother a child before the age of 20. The infant mortality rate for children born to
teen mothers is about 50 percent higher than that for those born to women older than 20.
One third of pregnant teens receive inadequate prenatal care; babies born to young mothers
are more likely to be low-birth-weight, to have childhood health problems and to be
hospitalized than are those born to older mothers. Furthermore, it is well documented that
early prenatal care and inter-conception care- i.e. care and counseling after a
miscarriage or stillbirth-can improve pregnancy outcomes. The Hygeia Foundation and
Institute for Perinatal Loss and Bereavement through its Headquarters and Resource Center
brings to the community a unique and heretofore absent resource, ultimately addressing the
maternal and child health of the population it serves (Southeastern Connecticut) by
providing important support programs, burial cost funding and a facility to support and
counsel families who have endured the tragedy of Perinatal Loss, particularly those who
are medically underserved. This serves to aid in the reduction in what are major
disparities in healthcare, particularly inter-conception health care in an effort to
reduce disparate rates of premature births, perinatal losses and infant deaths.
Selected Accomplishments:
· Hygeia® is among the earliest Internet programs (Established 1995)
devoted to the very difficult yet pervasive tragedy of pregnancy loss and neonatal death
and the only site of its kind entirely created and moderated by an
Obstetrician-Gynecologist.
· The Hygeia Foundation was recognized in several media reports, among
them, the New York Times, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, the New Haven
Register and the Hartford Courant and featured in interviews by Katie Couric on the NBC
Today Show and by Lisa Birnbach on the CBS Early Show.
· Hygeia ® was honored as finalist in the International Information
Technology Competition, The Stockholm Challenge, Stockholm, Sweden, 2002 and the Get
…Care program was introduced and presented to the Society for the Internet in
Medicine, Geneva, 2003 and Prague, 2005.
· In concert with the New Haven Health Department, the Hygeia
Foundation has successfully implemented a Burial and Memorial Fund to help indigent
families bury their children.
· The Hygeia Foundation was invited to become a Founding member of the
International Stillbirth Alliance, a non-profit coalition of organizations, physicians,
nurses and research scientists, dedicated to understanding the causes and prevention of
stillbirth through research initiatives.
Michael R. Berman, M.D.
Clinical Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences
Yale University School of Medicine
Founder and President
Hygeia Foundation and Institute for
Perinatal Loss and Bereavement
|
 Michael
R. Berman, M.D.
Founder and President
Joshua Teplitzky, J.D.
Vice President
Sherman Krevolin, J.D.
Secretary
Administration
Michael R. Berman, M.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Medical Director
Rachel Steigleder-
Director of Program Services
Advisory Boards
Parents
Claudia Esposito
Lisa Harkness
Jodie Jerzyk
Melissa Levy
Ginny McParland
Sloan O'Connel
Jennifer Rosenzweig
Leslie Shannehan
Rachel Steigleder
Lisa Thomas
Medical
Michael J. Paidas, M.D.
Director
Thrombosis and Hemostasis
Department of Ob-Gyn
Yale School of Medicine
Ian Gross,M.D.
Director
Newborn Intensive Care Unit
Yale-New Haven Hospital
Professional
Alex Richardson
Founder and Director,
NetKey, Inc
Tim DiScipio
Founder and CEO
Epals.com
Tucker Leary,
Vice President
Yale-New Haven Hospital |
