Pregnancy Loss Support
If you or some you know has experienced pregnancy loss, help is nearby. NechamaComfort is a Teanck-based organization that supports families and communities of all Jewish backgrounds who have suffered pregnancy loss. “We help wherever and whenever we are needed,” says founder and director, Reva Judas. NechamaComfort’s clients include immediate family, extended family, and friends who turn to them after early and late-term miscarriages, stillbirths, and early infant death. “Whether the loss was recent or a long time ago, we are here,” she says.
Judas and her colleagues work with medical staff, hospital staff, clergy, and funeral homes to get families what they need, and they educate professionals and communities on how to be supportive. Their goals are to:
Support families. At the time of loss, they can help families by encouraging their choices, assisting in making arrangements, and coping with the loss and moving through it. Local support groups meet in Teaneck, Riverdale, and Cedarhurst. Phone support is available worldwide, and has included Israel, South Africa, and Canada, and Hong Kong.
Educate communities. They run awareness programs that help remove the silence and isolation that surrounds infant/pregnancy loss as well as providing community members with practical tools so they are better equipped to provide families the needed support. NechamaComfort staff have traveled to California, Florida, Maryland and Toronto for community awareness programs.
Educate and train professionals. They work directly with clergy, medical professionals, mental health professionals, and funeral directors to help clients, as well as offer professional development training courses.
For clients, their services include crisis intervention, help arranging for a Jewish burial, individual and group counseling both by phone and in-person, monthly support groups, emotional support during subsequent pregnancies, and assistance in finding meaningful ways to honor their children and move through their grief. All these services are free of charge. To reach out for support or to arrange an awareness event in your community, call (833) NECHAMA, email nechamacomfort@gmail.com or visit their website nechamacomfort.org.
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