“Death on hold” training course Perinatal bereavement support

by Fondazione CiaoLapo

Target audience: reserved for health care personnel and helping relationship professionals

Duration: 44 hours divided into 11 modules

Dates: October 3 – 10 – 17 – 24 – 31, November 7 – 14 – 21 – 28- December 5 – 12, 2025

Modalities: The course takes place online on CiaoLapo’s Moodle platform with live videoconference lectures on Friday afternoons from 3 to 7 p.m.; modules will be recorded and will remain available until Jan. 7, 2026.

 

Scientific Direction

Dr. Claudia Ravaldi, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, PhD in neuroscience, master’s degree in history and techniques of children’s literature, CiaoLapo Foundation

Professor Alfredo Vannacci, medical pharmacologist and toxicologist, University of Florence, CiaoLapo Foundation

 

Course topics

First module – Perinatal bereavement support: a salutogenic and trauma-oriented model

Second module – Infertility

Third module – Miscarriage

Fourth module – Termination of pregnancy due to pathology

Fifth module – Death in utero

Sixth module – Postnatal death

Seventh module – Bereavement in the perinatal time

Eighth module – Psychotraumatology of perinatal bereavement

Ninth module – Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of complicated bereavement

Tenth module – Expectant again: pregnancy and parenting after perinatal bereavement

Eleventh module – Supervision of 4 clinical cases brought by learners divided into small groups

 

Course Objectives.

The course provides theoretical knowledge and practical skills to:

  • Welcome and support families affected by perinatal loss with expertise and sensitivity.
  • Promote respectful accompaniment, recognizing individual needs in the bereavement journey.
  • Integrate the most up-to-date knowledge in the fields of psychology and psychotraumatology, obstetrics, and nursing.
  • Spreading better awareness and culture of perinatal bereavement in health and social care settings
  • Networking in an integrated and multidisciplinary perspective with the various professional figures, who accompany women and couples in the process of grieving and new parenting

Lecturers

Course instructors are professional men and women specializing in gynecology, obstetrics, psychiatry, psychotherapy, and counseling in the helping relationship with many years of certified experience on perinatal bereavement, both from a research perspective and from the perspective of clinical and field support.

 

Enrollment and costs

Course registration includes:

  • participation in live lectures
  • access to registrations until January 7, 2026
  • teaching materials in pdf
  • 4 hours of supervision in small groups (mandatory for certification)
  • enrollment in the Perinatal Loss Assistant ( PERLA) registry of the CiaoLapo Foundation

By May 31, the registration cost is 360 euros

Starting June 1, the registration fee is 450 euros

Forty places are available: applications, complete in all parts, will be accepted in order of arrival.

No CME credits are provided

Enrollment deadline

Enrollment will be closed when 40 places are reached, and in any case no later than September 1, 2025

Sign up for this page.


The PerLA Registry – Perinatal Loss Assistant

The PerLA registry – Perinatal loss assistant, brings together health care and helping relationship professionals who have completed training on perinatal bereavement certified by the CiaoLapo Foundation

To obtain PerLA certification, the practitioner must complete a training course of at least 40 hours, divided into the following areas:

  1. Basics of per inatal bereavement – Characteristics of perinatal bereavement and possible treatments.
  2. Empathic communication and support – Strategies for relating to women and couples.
  3. Clinical and Care Accompaniment – Best Practices and Care Taking.
  4. Social and cultural aspects-Recognize different experiences and modes of support.
  5. Self-training tools and case supervision – To supplement one’s skills.

 

The PerLA registry will be published and made searchable on the ciaolapo.it website and will be used as a reference list of professionals with certified training in perinatal bereavement, for couples who apply to our Association.

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