In her role as a certified child life specialist in the Richard D. Wood Jr. Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment (CFDT), Special Delivery Unit (SDU), and Neonatal/Infant Intensive Care Unit (N/IICU), Sara DellaVolpe, BA, CCLS, collaborates with the interdisciplinary team to help support families during their outpatient prenatal visits, during their delivery and stay on the SDU, and during their time in the N/IICU.
For mothers staying on the SDU, Sara offers therapeutic activities for coping and distraction, as well as opportunities for families to stay connected. She also offers support and age appropriate education for siblings throughout the birth and/or hospitalization of their new sibling, and the transition of bringing baby home.
Sara provides emotional support for families who are experiencing perinatal palliative and bereavement care within the CFDT and SDU. She meets with families to explore their wishes surrounding creating keepsakes and memory-making activities with their infant and older children. She serves as a resource to assist families in understanding the ways in which children cope with grief and loss based on their development and how best to support them prior to and following the death of a sibling.
Goryeb Children’s Hospital - Morristown, NJ
Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS)
BA in Family and Child Studies with a concentration in Child Life - Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
Advanced Child Life Specialist
2010, Graduated Magna Cum Laude, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
2007-2010, Dean's List, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
2009-present, Child Life Council