Amie’s writing journey began when her daughter died in 2011. Her newborn daughter Ruthie Lou received a life-limiting diagnosis soon after birth and knowing that she would eventually die, Amie needed support, or an experienced friend, to walk her through this loss. ?After leaving the hospital with limited resources to guide her, she ?searched high and low for a book to help her on this journey. She never quite found what she was looking for. After five years of grief work, tending to her broken heart and eventually becoming a person of support for other bereaved moms, Amie found that she was often answering the same questions that she had in her early grief. Through helping others Amie realized there was a need in this community for a book, an experienced friend, to walk families through this unknown journey. This was the book that she was looking for, and came to write. ?Navigating the Unknown was released in January of 2017 by Kat Biggie Press.?
Our Only Time, Amie’s follow up to Navigating the Unknown, ?was created to motivate, inspire and show appreciation for medical professionals through experiences told from a patient’s perspective. Through heartfelt stories, families share the sacred time spent with their baby ? whether in utero or after birth ? and offer insights into how medical professionals positively impacted their experience. Also included are recommendations on how best to be supportive of patients and what types of actions to avoid during this devastating experience.
Through these incredibly intimate stories of loss, medical professionals can better understand a grieving family’s experience and become equipped to support bereaved parents when they leave the hospital without their baby. Medical professionals will come away with new insights on how to guide parents, empowering them to have the least amount of regret during this loss, and allowing for the greatest chance of healing in their grief as they re-enter the world.
Amie Lands is a teacher, wife, and mama to three beautiful children. She is the author of Navigating the Unknown:An Immediate Guide When Experiencing the Loss of Your Baby,?a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist?, founder of The Ruthie Lou Foundation, and an ongoing contributor at Still Standing Magazine. Since her daughter?s brief life, Amie?s passion is offering hope and providing support to bereaved families during their grief journey. Amie lives in northern California with her husband and their two sons.