LAPORTE – Eleven weeks pregnant with her seventh child, Amber Hassett went to a routine prenatal doctor’s visit not expecting to hear the words that would leave her numb – "I'm sorry, but your baby has no heartbeat."
She recalled being sent home with no information regarding miscarriages other than to wait for the baby to pass or have a dilation and curettage (D&C). “I left not knowing what I should do and not knowing what all things mean,” said Hassett.
“I felt so alone. I was Googling everything trying to find information, stressed out about the decisions I had to make, and that after just finding out my baby had no heartbeat. It was a lot.”
It was then she turned to her friend, Kenzie Covarrubias.
Hassett is a parishioner at Queen of All Saints in Michigan City, while Covarrubias is a parishioner at Holy Family Parish, a community of three LaPorte churches.
“I started telling Kenzie that women deserve better and need help with their diagnosis,” said Hassett.
From that loss of hope was born “Held in Hope.”
When she found out her baby was a girl, it was only fitting to name her Hope. “I always loved that name, plus we wanted to pull that into the organization, as well,” she said.
Held in Hope is a nonprofit organization that creates and distributes miscarriage kits to support and equip women through first trimester pregnancy loss. The kits are specifically designed for miscarriages at 13 weeks and under because care is usually taken care of at home, which is standard across the United States, according to Hassett and Covarrubias.
One in four pregnancies will end in miscarriage, with 80% of those within the first trimester. According to data the women shared, the number of pregnancies lost annually in Indiana is roughly 21,000. Across the United States, around one million miscarriages take place, with 800,000 during the first trimester.
“We hear all the time from women experiencing a miscarriage, ‘I feel so alone.’ We’re giving them the tools to help them through their loss,” said Covarrubias.
Each kit includes educational materials regarding options for first trimester miscarriage management, as well as practical items needed to miscarry at home, including a container for the baby and a ‘heart bag’ to place the baby container inside. Other items include options for miscarriage management, a fetal development card, information on chromosomal testing and information on burial.
A letter to the mom, a miscarriage journal and pen, cozy socks, a watercolor baby print and lip balm are included. “Some of the items may not be necessary, but we want the moms to feel they’re cared for,” said Covarrubias.
Within a month following the loss of Hope in September 2022, the duo had managed to create and distribute the first kits. “It was really fast, but we had this sense that every day we didn’t have these kits available was a day women were going home empty handed,” said Covarrubias.
The first kits were distributed to Hassett’s ob/gyn physician in what the two women described as “divine timing.” Within an hour, a patient came in and wound up needing a kit. The patient eventually contacted Hassett and Covarrubias to share her story. She happened to be a medical attorney who has been instrumental in supporting the organization.
Nearly 1,000 kits have been already distributed since the start of Held in Hope nearly a year ago, and are used in hospitals and doctors’ offices in LaPorte, St. Joseph and Marshall counties, as well as across the United States. Some area hospitals include Franciscan Health Michigan City and Northwest Health in LaPorte County, and St. Joseph Regional Medical Center and Memorial Hospital of South Bend in St. Joseph County.
The women hope the kits will be more readily available through the region as funding allows.
“We have to fundraise for every kit. We’ve been very blessed in LaPorte in that we received a grant from the Healthcare Foundation of LaPorte,” said Covarrubias. Our organization has also received funds from several generous donors in South Bend and Marshall counties, the Knights of Columbus, and several churches and businesses.
The women have gained support from area doctors, along with obstetrician and bereavement nurses who have helped develop the information offered in the kit. Hassett and Covarrubias want to be clear that the information is not medical advice, but general information. “We didn’t want to have women search the internet and find horror stories, but (wanted to provide) a clinical explanation by reputable resources and ob-gyn physicians,” said Covarrubias.
Sister Petra Nielsen, vice president of mission integration at Franciscan Health Michigan City, stated, “Our OB Department has been the biggest champions in making these kits available through Franciscan.”
Franciscan Health Michigan City first received the kits about a year ago. Since then, eight kits have been handed out, according to Ann Mejer, RN, BSN, MSA, operations manager with the Franciscan Physician Network.
“The kits have been helpful. It gives us an opportunity to help the mom through a difficult time by caring for the whole person,” said Mejer.
She shared that a patient, who received a kit following a miscarriage, contacted them. “She said it was such an amazing gesture to have received this.”
“It’s okay to grieve. Miscarriages are very physical and emotional. Miscarriages are incredibly isolating and lonely. You are not alone, but held by a community,” said Hassett.
For more information, visit heldinhope.org.
Caption: Held in Hope founders Kenzie Covarrubias and Amber Hassett display items found in one of the kits. The two LaPorte County residents created the kits to aid mothers who are experiencing a first trimester miscarriage. (Bob Wellinski photo)