Support People

In this spotlight, we feature Haven Doula and longtime member of the Haven community, Deb Loera.

Considering starting a nonprofit? Check out Erica's story.

On men, crying, and Cicero

Sometimes, words can convey messages we may not mean. Here are some phrases you can swap out in order to be a bit more grief-informed. 

If you experience these things, call your medical care provider.

Five questions to consider as you search for grief support groups

Not all bereavement doulas are photographers, but sometimes we have to be. Here are some tips and resources to help you provide photographs to families after a loss. Tip #1: Get some bereavement photographers on your resource list! Organizations and individuals are both great options. Remember that you can always message newborn photographers or doulatogs in your area and ask them if they'd be willing to help out in a case of loss. (Remember also that some organizations and i

In this spotlight, we feature Haven founder, Dr. Abby Jorgensen.

Check out the Haven Book Club picks for 2026

One of the most common questions people have about birth before 20 weeks gestation is, “Why does it happen?”  Why miscarriage occurs is a really difficult question to answer. Often, we can’t actually give families specific answers for their own specific cases. However, there are some common causes (or commonly discussed causes) that can be useful for everyone to know.  So, to help society get more grief-informed, we are sharing this information by gifting everyone who reads

In this spotlight, we feature Whitney Whitmore, a Haven Doula and the Director of Home - Lily of the Valley Catholic Ministry.

Pet companions have always been a part of my life. If we've ever met, you probably at the very least saw a picture of my pet companion: my little dog Buzz.

Grief work is sacred but it can also be exhausting. When you’re holding space for families experiencing loss, it’s no surprise that your own words sometimes run dry. You might know what you want to say, but everything feels too sharp or too tired to land well.

Our new course, Labor and Birth before 20 Weeks Gestation, fills that gap. It provides 6 hours of evidence-based, easy-to-understand material for any support person who wants to become more knowledgeable in supporting families physically through miscarriage.

Come join our free 5-day mini course, Prepared Presence 2025, September 22-26. Each day, you’ll get access to a short video with instructions for a 10-minute activity designed to help make your online presence more welcoming and supportive of loss families.

In this spotlight, we feature Carli Herzog, a Haven-trained bereavement doula in Iowa.

As bereavement doulas, one of the ways we support families is through connecting them to grief-informed care providers, of many kinds! Today’s blog post is part of our ongoing effort at Haven to help you strengthen your resource list – that collection of care providers that you have on hand and ready for the moment a family needs it.

Doulas and other support people may find themselves in situations where a baby is rushed off to surgery immediately or shortly after birth. How can we support families in this situation? Here are five suggestions for you.

In many bereavement cases, we as bereavement doulas (or any kind of support people) can benefit from a consultation with another professional. You may want to ask a neonatologist their general standard of care for a certain type of case, or an experienced bereavement doula how they might handle the family dynamic you’re presented with, or a grief therapist what modalities of therapy might be most useful to someone in your client’s situation.

When a little one needs a burial vessel, you might not realize that you have options.