Students for Humanism in Medicine

 

Memory Box Project

 

The memory box project was started by a recent NJMS graduate, Angelie Mascarinas, who noticed during her OB/GYN rotation that residents were giving out decorated boxes to mothers who had lost their babies in unfortunate miscarriages.  Oftentimes, families and mothers leave the hospital without much support or acknowledgement for their lost child and are left to grieve alone. These boxes are a small keepsake containing treasured memories that will help keep their loved ones close to their hearts.  Given this idea, we decided to adopt a memory box project here at NJMS.  Every few weeks, students gather to create boxes using their own personal styles and creativities, with acrylic paints and decorative paper.  The boxes include paper for the baby’s footprint, encouraging poems, as well as other little treasures that will serve as a remembrance to mothers and families. Decorated memory boxes are then donated to patients in the Labor and Delivery Department here at University Hospital in Newark.