maternity<\/a> leave,\u201d says Bob Silver, MD, chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at University of Utah Health. \u201cBut when a woman has a stillbirth, she\u2019s expected to go right back to work.\u201d<\/p>\nStillbirth, defined as the loss of life after 20 weeks’ gestation, affects hundreds of Utah families every year. The mother still experiences labor, postpartum recovery, and often milk production\u2014while grieving the loss of her child. That leaves many families wondering if it\u2019s safe\u2014or even possible\u2014to try again. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Silver and his team at the Utah Pregnancy After Loss (UPAL) Program work to eliminate the odds of miscarriage and stillbirth<\/p>\n
Home to the University of Utah Stillbirth Center of Excellence, the program brings together maternal-fetal medicine specialists, mental health providers, peer mentors, and individualized pregnancy care to help families move forward when they are ready. This support extends before, during, and after pregnancy\u2014care that is uncommon in many health systems. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\nBob Silver, MD, sees a patient in the Utah Pregnancy After Loss Program. Photo: Kristan Jacobsen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nDr. Silver and his team hope to lower the number of stillbirths and miscarriages by also introducing preventive measures that address both physical and mental health. The team at UPAL helps patients receive better access to care through frequency of in-person visits, telehealth appointments, and practitioner visits in rural hospitals and clinics. \u00a0<\/p>\n
A few weeks after Ruth\u2019s funeral, Adam came across a news story featuring Silver. Soon after, they scheduled a consultation through the clinic. \u00a0<\/p>\n
After receiving Jessica\u2019s medical history, Silver and his team determined the couple\u2019s chance of experiencing another stillbirth was less than 1%. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt became our mantra\u201499 out of 100,\u201d Jessica says. \u201cWe can make this work. We can have a healthy baby who comes home from the hospital.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>Adam and Jessica Serdar at their Eagle Mountain home. Photo: Niki Chan Wylie<\/figcaption>For many pregnant patients, prenatal visits happen once a month during the early stages of pregnancy. Patients in UPAL often have a very different schedule. Silver encourages patients to make their own appointment schedule for frequent heartbeat monitoring, ultrasounds, and stress tests. Some patients at the clinic visit their providers as often as twice a week. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t stress the importance of choices enough,\u201d Silver says. \u201cHow frequently a patient is seen, the timing of the delivery\u2014the more choices families have, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n
That flexibility is part of the program\u2019s trauma-informed approach. Specialized obstetric care can help identify risk factors, provide reassurance, and create personalized plans for pregnancy<\/p>\n
In addition, patients have access to:<\/p>\n
\nMental health professionals experienced in pregnancy loss \u00a0<\/li>\n Support for anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress<\/li>\n Community volunteers who have experienced miscarriage or stillbirth themselves<\/li>\n Care plans tailored to each family\u2019s emotional and medical teams\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nFor Jessica and Adam, compassionate care made all the difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Silver is an angel,\u201d Jessica says. \u201cAfter my husband, he\u2019s my second favorite man on planet Earth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe her first,\u201d Adam jokes<\/p>\n
Today, the Serdar family\u2019s Eagle Mountain home is filled with the sounds of a healthy baby: coos, the shaking of bottles, and hushed lullabies<\/p>\n
Their daughter, Margaret Hope Serdar\u2014Margot for short\u2014loves big cuddles. She is learning to smile and mastering tummy time. \u00a0<\/p>Jessica Serdar holds baby Margot’s hand. Photo: Niki Chan Wylie<\/figcaption>The Serdar family home is also filled with reminders of Ruth, such as photos from her birth and a handmade shadowbox with clothes and flowers. Jessica says those memories help them honor Ruth while embracing the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe grief doesn\u2019t go away,\u201d Jessica says. \u201cThere is no moving on, but there is moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\nPhoto: Niki Chan Wylie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFor parents who may have a similar story, Jessica and Adam encourage prospective parents to find providers who understand grief, work with a trusted therapist, and allow joy to return without guilt. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou deserve the special treatment,\u201d Adam says. \u201cWhat you\u2019ve been through is significant. You deserve that time and attention, because what you\u2019ve been through makes you special.\u201d<\/p>Photo: Niki Chan Wylie<\/figcaption>University of Utah Health launched UPAL in 2024 to address a critical gap in care for families after miscarriage and stillbirth. As a part of the Stillborn Center of Excellence, the program is built on five guiding principles: research, education, advocacy, mental health, and access. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Today, UPAL is recognized as a leader within the United States Pregnancy After Loss Support (USPAL) Network. Teams from U of U Health have held extensive training sessions to help other health systems across the state, the country, and the world as they consider launching similar programs<\/p>Photo: Niki Chan Wylie<\/figcaption>By sharing clinical expertise, research, and trauma-informed care models, University of Utah Health helps improve care for bereaved families beyond Utah.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When UPAL started, it was one of three similar clinics in the nation. Now, five more hospitals in the U.S. have started their own programs relying on the U’s model, mentorship, and expertise<\/p>\n
For families navigating one of life\u2019s most difficult experiences, the growing network offers something invaluable: Hope.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In March 2024, Jessica Serdar awoke in the middle of the night with a feeling she couldn\u2019t ignore. At 34 weeks pregnant, her baby had stopped moving.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[714,1049,99,440,689],"class_list":["post-6372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pregnancy","tag-after","tag-loss","tag-pregnancy","tag-program","tag-provides"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6372"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6377,"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6372\/revisions\/6377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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