You will always carry them in your heart. Who will carry you?
Guidance, comfort, and practical help for Jewish families through pregnancy and infant loss: within hours, always free.
Day or night · (718) 925-2113
Knafayim by the numbers
- 475
- volunteers worldwide
- 3,500+
- families helped annually
- 3,000
- bereaved parents attended teleconferences
- 1,750
- loss care packets delivered
- 6,000+
- consultation and support calls
- 850
- support group members
Fifteen branches. One community.
- Brooklyn
- Lakewood
- Five Towns
- Israel
- Toronto
- Montreal
- Australia
- England
- Belgium
- South Africa
- Switzerland
- Brazil
- Los Angeles
- Vienna
- Portugal
It takes just seven seconds, and seven words, for the world to fall apart.
I'm so sorry, but there's no heartbeat.
In that moment, a family needs someone who understands: the questions, the halachos, the silence no one prepares you for. Knafayim is there within hours, and stays long after the world moves on.
Affiliates
Knafayim works with Achiezer Community Resource Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Birth Doulas International, CHEMED, Chaim Medical Resource, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Ezra Medical Center, Ezras Choilim Health Center, Lev Medical, Maimonides Medical Center, Misaskim, Monmouth Medical Center, Montefiore, Mount Sinai, NYU Langone Health, Postpartum Support International, Premium Health, Project ECHO, RELIEF, Resolve Through Sharing, SBH Shalom Fertility Division, WMC Health Good Samaritan Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine, Westchester Medical Center.
From the first phone call, to a Shabbos of comfort, to the card that arrives a year later
Every family's path through loss is different. Knafayim meets each one where they are, with guidance, presence, and practical help at every step. Every service is free.
- Guidance & referrals Support through medical decision making, as well as medical referrals, patient advocacy, and rabbinical consultations
- In-person consultation Home or hospital visitation for post-diagnosis options counseling
- Emotional doula services Attendance at birth of babies born still and/or hospital visitation post-birth
- Final arrangements Coordination of burial services with chevra kaddisha
- Care packages Curated support packages with practical, informational, and inspirational materials for miscarriage, stillbirth, and postpartum care
- Support groups for men & women Monthly peer support groups moderated by licensed mental health professionals
- Therapeutic support Crisis counseling and mental health referrals
- Psycho-educational teleconferences Live teleconferences presented by medical professionals and therapists
Changing the model for compassionate bereavement care.
- 100% responsiveness
- Calls answered anytime of the day or night
- High-level training
- Educated support for what lies ahead in a practical, physical, and emotional sense
- Collaborative care
- Relationships in 25+ medical centers, affording our patients VIP care
- Ongoing support
- Honoring the process of life and the journey of grief, because once a mother, always a mother
The clinicians who refer families to us
I consider Knafayim's services vital and regularly encourage patients to reach out. Evidence shows that those who participate in these programs heal significantly better. While this is always a difficult experience, Knafayim's support makes it far more manageable. They guide patients through each step with understanding and real experience, so no one has to go through it alone.
David Baruch Lubell, MD FACOG
Clinical director of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Refuah Health Center, and attending physician and clinical instructor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
I feel very confident telling our Orthodox patients, "We have a great resource within your community. Here's her name and here's what she offers." Knafayim is available at a moment's notice: all I have to do is make a call or send a text and we have support. And there are so many resources within Knafayim; there's things for moms, for dads, for them as couples, for the children. That sense of being cared for, for both the families as well as for us, is a great asset to our program.
Frances T. McCarthy, MS, RNC, CPLC
Clinical coordinator for the Neonatal Comfort Care Program, NY Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital
Knafayim is very well respected in the medical community. We consider them our partners: patients would be lost if they didn't have Knafayim to turn to for guidance. They're an amazing group of individuals who're unbelievably dedicated to helping people, and their responsiveness is perfect. Knafayim's support means better care and better outcomes for my patients.
Victor Rosenberg, MD FACOG
MFM physician at Rosenberg Maternal-Fetal Medicine, PC, Hewlett, NY
What Knafayim does is extremely concrete and tangible. You can't get more hands-on than holding a woman's hand as she delivers a stillborn. In our community, we don't talk enough about loss. To have a place where you can talk it through with someone, to give words to the emotions, to hold space for the pain, that's critical. When you have support, whether it's from Malkie individually, an emotional doula, or a support call, the healing is just healthier.
Chanie Delman, LCSW PMH-C
Licensed clinical social worker, perinatal mental health certified
Give yourself permission to grieve.
In your own way. In your own time. At your own pace.
“I was almost 40 weeks pregnant when I was told there was no heartbeat. My husband and I were totally at a loss. We found Knafayim's number late that night and they were so accessible. Someone responded to our call right away and had answers for all our questions, gave us practical advice, and let us know what to expect. The doula guided us through the birth the next day and helped us make the short time we had with our daughter as meaningful as possible. I would've had no idea what to do if she hadn't been with us and I would've had so many regrets for the rest of my life. Her wisdom was invaluable.”
“When I walked into the hospital, the nurse came over to me and said, "We take care of everyone here, but I take extra care of Knafayim's people." And she did. She sat in the room with me and literally held my hand as I was going through the process. Knafayim was my address when I didn't know who to talk to or what to do. Knafayim gave me a safe place without judgment where I could get help for what I was going through and grieve.”
Carry a family with us.
Your gift becomes a care packet at a hospital bedside, a phone call in the middle of the night, a Shabbos of comfort for a family in crisis.