Founder Of Healing Hearts Media Awarded National Associations Award of Excellence

Nurse recognized by the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) for providing compassionate care and remembrance videos to families experiencing a miscarriage, stillbirth, or early newborn death.

Valrico, Fla. — Founder of Healing Hearts Media, Laurie Van Damme, BN, RN was recently presented the Award of Excellence in Practice by the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) at their annual convention in San Diego, Calif. Van Damme received the prestigious AWHONN award for her excellence in clinical practice and continued innovation in the delivery of care for women and newborns. Van Damme oversees a hospital perinatal bereavement program, working with families who have experienced the loss of an infant through miscarriage, stillbirth, or early newborn death. In her work Van Damme cares for babies who have passed away, often taking a collection of pictures that serve as physical reminders and mementos for grieving families. In 2007, Van Damme founded Healing Hearts Media, taking her work in bereavement photography a step further by offering hospitals a way to provide remembrance videos to patients experiencing perinatal loss. Van Damme is also a Clinical Nurse Coordinator in Labor & Delivery at Brandon Regional Hospital in Brandon, Fla., where she was instrumental in developing Adam’s Garden, a pregnancy and infant loss remembrance garden named after the baby that Van Damme says changed the way she views perinatal loss and the families she cares for. She also provides training on perinatal loss to hospital staff, nurses, physicians and lay people. Van Damme’s contributions to perinatal loss have been recognized on both a national and international level. She has received numerous awards including Sigma Theta Tau International’s Helen Henry Excellence of Care Award, Cherokee’s National Inspired Comfort Award, the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) National Frist Humanitarian Award, and the Pregnancy Loss and Infant Death Alliance (PLIDA) Awareness Award. For more information on remembrance videos and Van Damme's work, visit http://www.healingheartsmedia.com.