November 30, 2007

The MGH's youngest remembered in annual service

The first Sunday of each November, the MGH's Comfort and Support after Loss Team hosts the Pediatric Memorial Service to remember and celebrate the lives of the hospital's youngest patients who have died. Representing patients from Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Neonatology, the Pediatric Memorial Service has for the past 16 years drawn families, relatives, friends and MGH staff together to honor these children.

The service, which took place Nov. 4 in the O'Keeffe Auditorium, included readings by parents and relatives, a naming ceremony in which family members came forward and announced their child's name, and a photo presentation. Music was provided by MGH music therapist Lorrie Kubicek.

In addition to the ceremony, families and relatives decorated a piece of fabric for inclusion in a memorial book, which will be assembled by members of the Comfort and Support after Loss Team, led by Fredda Zuckerman, LICSW. Memorial quilts, the results of the contributions of families in previous years, also hung outside the MGH General Store on Ellison 1 from Oct. 22 to Nov. 5.

For more information about the service, contact Zuckerman at fzuckerman1@partners.org or Kathryn Beauchamp, CNS, at kabeauchamp@partners.org.