New Orleans: 2026 International Perinatal Bereavement Conference

The 2026 PLIDA Education and Planning Committees seek concurrent and poster presenters for the 24th Biennial International Perinatal Bereavement Conference May 13 - 16, 2026 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Presenters are invited to share evidence-based clinical practice, research, and experiential opportunities with an interprofessional audience to over 300 professionals. This 3.5-day conference includes one day of pre-conference presentations followed by 2.5 days of plenary, concurrent, and networking sessions. 

Clinicians, researchers, and academicians became interested in family-centered care applied to hospital and community perinatal bereavement in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The International Perinatal Bereavement Conference (IPBC), first offered in the mid-1980s, is the only international conference on this topic. The overall purpose of IPBC is to enhance the work of those providing care to bereaved families in the hospital, outpatient, and community settings. The intended audience includes nurses, chaplains, physicians, social workers, spiritual care workers, genetic counselors, expressive therapy providers, child life specialists, mental health providers, and parent advocates. Potential presenters may wish to consider submitting proposals on the topics outlined below.

• Only proposals submitted on these forms will be accepted and reviewed. 
• Proposal must be typed; handwritten documents will not be accepted.
• Conference planners will not review incomplete, incorrect, or late submissions. 
• Please submit proposals via email to [email protected] by December 1, 2024.

     

• Identify skills for working within an interprofessional team when providing care for bereaved families.
• Examine ways of promoting health equity through health care access and quality in the perinatal population.
• Discuss trauma related to death, unexpected outcomes, and insensitive care during childbearing.
• Explore communication skills appropriate for the perinatal period.
• Describe grief and bereavement in diverse populations.
• Provide opportunities for relationship building. 
• List ways of translating research findings into clinical practice to promote a compassionate standard of care for bereaved families.
• Explain principles and practice of self-care.
  
  

• Topic is innovative and relevant to perinatal bereavement care.
• Submission focuses on one or more of these areas: clinical practice, research, education, and/or advocacy.
• Time allocation and presentation content are well organized. 
• Presenter has appropriate and relevant presentation experience.
• Learning objectives are measurable (i.e., using verbs such as discuss, describe, list, explain and avoid the verb “understand”)
• Participants are likely to have significant interest in the session.

• Speaker and Poster Presenters are required to register for the main conference. Preconference registration is optional. 
• Poster Presenters are expected to be at their posters and available for questions during specified times.
• Presentations will be scheduled for either May 13, May 14, or May 15th. We are unable to accommodate specific requests for presentation scheduling, so speaker must be available on either date.
• In gratitude there is one $100.00 registration discount per proposal that is accepted as a concurrent or poster presentation
• Submissions with more than one speaker will receive only one discount to be shared among presenters.
• Submission is limited to a maximum of 2 speakers per proposal. All speakers are required to register for the main conference. 
• Speakers and Poster Presenters are responsible for all travel and lodging expenses, including parking.

TOPICS OF INTEREST
Conference planners encourage proposals on the following topics: 

• Bereavement Care Models                       
• Collaborative Care Models                      
• Communication
• Cultural Responses to Pregnancy Loss and Infant Death                     
• Current Theories, Models, and Concepts                        
• Developing a Reflective Practice                           
• Disrespectful Care
• Emergency Department Care                                 
• Ethical Issues and Decision-Making                                   
• Fetal Center Care                           
• Fourth-Trimester Care 
• Gaps in Perinatal Neonatal Palliative Care                   
• Genetic Counselor Care
• Genetics and Genomics in Perinatal Care                       
• Growth and Transformation                    
• Implementing a Perinatal Bereavement Standard of Care                                   
• Infant Organ Donation After Loss
• Integration of Evidence-Based Practices                        
• Interdisciplinary Team Care
• Leveraging Resources for Perinatal Palliative Care Development                                    
• Managerial, Leadership, Administrative Roles in Bereavement Programs                   
• Maternal Death                                
• Maternal Mental Health                              
• Mentoring Relationships in Perinatal Bereavement                                    
• Mindfulness and Meditation
• Miscarriage Care Across the Health Care System
• Newborn Death
• NICU Loss and Bereavement
• Parent Support Activities                           
• Perinatal Bereavement Mental Health
• Perinatal Hospice                           
• Perinatal Palliative Care
• Quality, Safety, and Quality Measures
• Reproductive Care                        
• Ritual, Suffering, and Hope
• Secondary Trauma (Care Providers)
• Self-care, Caregiver Grief or Suffering in Perinatal Care, Moral Distress
• Spiritual Care
• Stillbirth
• Support of Fathers, LGBTQ+ Non-Gestational Carriers
• Supporting Siblings
• The Grief of Children, Grandparents, and Other Family Members
• Traumatic Birth                                 
• Traumatic or Complicated Bereavement

• EDUCATIONAL PLANNING TABLE 
• CURRICULUM VITAE or BIOSKETCH per speaker and planning committee member* (See below for guidelines)
• CONFLICT OF INTEREST FORM per speaker
• GAP ANALYSIS FORM
• The EDUCATIONAL PLANNING, PLANNER/FACULTY CURRICULUM VITAE or BIOSKETCH, CONFLICT OF INTEREST and GAP ANALYSIS FORMS, are required to award continuing education credits. We appreciate your assistance in maintaining records as prescribed by Rush University Medical Center’s Office of Interprofessional Continuing Education and other continuing education providers.
• Concurrent presentations must include 10 minutes for audience questions as part of this 60-minute session.
• All forms must be typed; handwritten documents will not be accepted.
• Submission is limited to a maximum of 2 speakers per proposal.
• Conference planners will not review incomplete, incorrect, or late submissions. Please review instructions at the end of this document or tutorial available on our website www.plida.org
• Please submit completed forms via email to [email protected] by December 1, 2024. 

*Note: PLIDA recognizes highest completed degrees only. Please do not use degree candidacy in your credentials [e.g., DNP(c)]. This is standard practice in most universities and colleges as a way of recognizing the work that goes into degree completion.

POSTER PRESENTATION SUBMISSION
Please submit a 1-page proposal for your poster presentation. Please include:

• Title of the Poster
• First & Last Name of Author(s)*
• Detailed Contact Information for each author, including email address.

• Proposal must be typed; handwritten documents will not be accepted.
• Conference planners will not review incomplete, incorrect, or late submissions.