About
What is "What Would Jasper Do"?
“What Would Jasper Do" is about the ways our children teach us and how we continue to learn from loving them.
It was Jenna Jean’s mom, Heather, who posed this question to me, as she helped me learn to navigate my grief and my faith.
Navigating life after child loss is difficult and considering what Jasper
(and Jesus) might do, keeps him close.
About Jasper
Our dearest son, Jasper, was born at 34 weeks 3 days on February 5, 2020 at 9:41am. He weighed 5 lbs 15 oz and measured 16.4 inches. After a battle with his breathing, on February 6, 2020 at 4:04pm, he died peacefully in my arms with his dad holding his hand, and his grandmothers and wonderful care team close by. A chaplain said prayers that captured our whole hearts for Jasper in life and death.
Jasper was diagnosed with congenital heart defect (CHD) in our 20 week anatomy scan. Although this may not ultimately have been the war Jasper fought, it was certainly part of the battle. Jasper had developed severe pleural effusions (fluid on the lungs) and his lungs were too under developed. In a post mortem whole exome sequencing, we discovered that Jasper has a rare uninherited gene mutation in RAC-1.
About Me
Hi. I'm Jamala, Jasper's mummy.
I am an infertility, congenital heart defect (CHD), child loss and grief advocate.
Coping with the grief of child loss at the onset of a global pandemic has made me passionate about supporting the community for bereaved mothers and normalizing grief through writing and speaking engagements.
Writing, philanthropy and becoming a first-time author is how I parent my son still.
I am from Barbados and live in Richmond, Virginia.
