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SALT LAKE CITY — When it came time to deliver her firstborn son, Jaymie Maines would have liked to be anywhere else.
"My life changed forever. My husband Mark and I were informed that our full-term baby boy no longer had a heartbeat. I was admitted and forced to deliver a piece of my heart that I will never get to hold again," said Maines. "There was not a lot of compassion from my health care provider — he was there to do a job and it was obvious that neither he nor I wanted to be there that day."
The night after the loss of her son James, Maines recalled feeling desperate for connection and found herself on the internet reading stories of women who had experienced similar things.
"I remember lying awake in complete despair, with a literal ache in my arms, drowning in engorged breast milk — I sent an email," Maines said.
That email connected her with a support group of about six women "from all walks of life who had a bond necessary to pull each other through," she added. The support group became crucial to her healing, especially as she and her husband considered trying for another child. The couple was referred to Dr. Bob Silver, who first met them for a consultation.
"We knew we wanted to try again but the anxiety was paralyzing. It is such a complicated place to be," recalled Maines. "As we sat at the table, my husband and I, along with Dr. Silver, discussed our loss. I was not just a number at his office, he showed interest in my current loss, interest in my mental health."
The intersection of mental health, peer-to-peer family support, data collection and physical health is part of the first regional Pregnancy After Loss program, which officially launched on Monday with a ribbon-cutting event.
University of Utah Health's Utah Pregnancy After Loss program will provide care for families after stillbirth, newborn death, termination, recurrent pregnancy loss, placental disorders and preterm birth. Those who have recently experienced a loss can meet with the program's providers, who are specially trained to provide sensitive care around grief and explore possible causes. Patients who are seeking to become pregnant again can receive preconception counseling and those who become pregnant after loss can get all their prenatal care at the clinic.
"Stillbirth is really one of the most devastating, saddest pregnancy complications in the United States and far too common. In the United States, it affects about one in 175 pregnancies. Even though our country has considerable resources, our stillbirth rate is much higher than other similar countries. Our ability to decrease that rate has been much slower than other similar countries," Silver said at the event.
"This clinic is part of an effort to try to really be better about stillbirth in Utah, in Salt Lake, in the Intermountain West, in the United States and in the world. So thank you for that," he continued.
The program has been developed in partnership with families and women who have gone through a loss — women like Maines, who helped cut the clinic's ribbon with her three children, who were delivered by Silver.
"With each baby, he has shown genuine care and interest as I started recovery after one of the births, I remember getting a call from him personally as he was boarding a plane to leave the country ... that goes a long way for a mother who originally felt abandoned by her health care provider," said Maines. "What an amazing opportunity this rainbow clinic will be for those with similar experiences."
