November 12, 2024 // Diocese

Finding Comfort Amid Uncertainty

Clare Hildebrandt

Reporter

Miriam’s Blessing Ministry Assists Parents in Navigating Prenatal Diagnoses

Imagine a couple newly expecting. They have ultrasound pictures on the refrigerator, and they’ve begun buying baby clothes. Their family is beyond excited and may already feel overwhelmed. Then, tests reveal abnormalities with the baby that change the family’s life.

“It’s traumatic,” Kellene Murdick, Parent Care Coordinator at Miriam’s Blessing, told Today’s Catholic. “It’s an uncharted path.”

Miriam’s Blessing, a ministry of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, is a group of Parent Care Coordinators who accompany these families with prenatal diagnoses, providing personal care and guidance for parents. Murdick said that, often, couples are told to simply abort the child after receiving a poor diagnosis. Miriam’s Blessing staff show families there is another way, and offer support through the pregnancy, birth, and postpartum periods.

“We offer trauma-informed care to families. We are able to provide them with resources and information to walk alongside them throughout their pregnancy, giving them support that’s baby-centered and parent-centered,” Murdick said.

They serve any family that has had a positive screening, which may include Trisomy 18, 14, or 21 (which is Down syndrome). They also help babies with congenital heart issues.

And while they help families navigate the prenatal diagnosis and how to move forward, they also provide care to those hurting from being offered an abortion.

“Ultimately, most families that I talk to have been offered an abortion in light of a positive screening or a prenatal diagnosis. It is so traumatic. You’ve got this wanted child, and you’re pretty far along in your pregnancy, and you’re told to abort,” Murdick shared.

According to organization officials, 80 percent of parents will have an abortion if offered one after a prenatal diagnosis. Yet, if offered a plan of support, 80 percent with a diagnosis will choose to carry their child to term.

“Ultimately, we at the organization aim to prevent abortions both for the babies’ sake and the mothers. But when you’ve got a wanted pregnancy and you choose to have an abortion, it’s so hard for [moms] afterwards,” Murdick explained. “You know, it’s especially hard for the moms that choose an abortion in light of a prenatal diagnosis, so we hope to be able to step in that gap ahead of time and to be able to offer them an alternative.”

The people working at Miriam’s Blessing know family life can be busy, so they provide care not subject to normal busy hours. “I can talk to families if it’s a Saturday evening and it’s 9 o’clock at night. If that’s when mom and dad can get on the phone because their three children are in bed, then that’s when we talk. If we need to meet at a coffee shop, then we do that as well,” said Murdick.

Giving what she describes as a heart-warming example of personal care through the ministry, Murdick told Today’s Catholic that a mother had lost her child before she was due, and for the baby’s funeral, she wanted her wedding dress to be made into a burial gown. Miriam’s Blessing staff took this into their own hands and had the white gown ready for her deceased child.

Visit diocesefwsb.org/miriams-blessing for more information about Miriam’s Blessing.

Clare Hildebrandt is a reporter for Today’s Catholic.