Perinatal and Neonatal Loss

Description: Loss of a child during pregnancy or in the newborn period. Also for parents who have just found out that their pregnancy/baby is affected with a significant birth defect(s) and have difficult decisions facing them.

A Heartbreaking Choice
Support Group
Pregnancy does not end happily for everyone. Sadly, some parents receive grim prenatal news that something is seriously or fatally wrong with their loved and wanted unborn baby. They have to make a decision about continuing or ending pregnancy. We realize that all parents make a loving choice, one they feel is better for their baby. Regardless of the fetal anomaly found, the decision to end a pregnancy is always a difficult one. Parents who face this nightmare often feel alone, and there is very little in the way of support programs for them. With this site and the dedication of courageous parents willing to reach out, we hope to create a safe haven of encouragement, validation, hope and healing.

A Place to Remember
Support Group
Support materials and resources for those who have been touched by a crisis in pregnancy or the death of a baby 1885 University Avenue, Suite 110 Saint Paul, MN 55104 1-800-631-0973

A Time to Decide, A Time to Heal
Source/Author: Molly A. Minnick, MSW, Kathleen J. Delp, ACSW, and Mary C. Ciotti, MD. 
Support Group
Grief material to purchase. For parents making difficult decisions about babies they love is written by mothers and fathers who have faced the news of fetal anomaly with grief and courage. Authors look at the steps involved in the decision to continue or to end the pregnancy, with the book's real strength (and largest portion) being in the comprehensive approach it takes to healing grief after a decision to terminate is made. A most important resource... (Pineapple Press, 110 pages)

Remembering our babies
Support Group
How to create memories for a baby that was lost in pregnancy or shortly after birth

Difficult Decisions
Support Group
Grief material. When parents are given devastating news about their unborn child, they must face many decisions while dealing with their grief, anger and a sense of hopelessness. Without being overwhelming, Difficult Decisions offers gentle support, practical suggestions, and very helpful information as parents struggle with what their next step will be.

Double Dominance
Source/Author: Mary Ellen Little, ADN RNC 
Support Group
Web site designed by the LPA bereavement coordinator for LPA. Support services for couples having a baby affected with double dominant or double heterozygote dwarfism (2 genetic doses of dwarfism) causing a lethal condition.

Helping After Neonatal Death
Support Group
HAND is a resource network of parents, professionals, and supportive volunteers that offers a variety of services throughout Northern California and the Central Valley. There are no fees for our services. HAND relies entirely on donations to support its programs. Through these pages, we hope to reach out beyond our local area to provide information and support to bereaved parents and the people who care for them.

Honored Babies
Support Group
A place where mothers whose babies have died (miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, neonatal death, infancy death, and/or pregnancy termination) can add their babies to an Online Memorial, join an Online Support Group E-mail List (there's also one for Grandmothers), and submit their "entire story" for book publication. Also offered is a Resource Center and Keepsakes.

Mothers in Sympathy and Support
Support Group
The mission of M.I.S.S. is to allow a safe haven for parents to share their grief after the death of a child. MISS provides support to parents enduring the tragedy of stillbirth, neonatal death and infant death from any cause including SIDS, congenital anomalies, trisomy 13. Grief education for parents and professionals is our main focus.

Precious Lives, Painful Choices
Source/Author: Sherokee Ilse 
Support Group
Grief material to purchase. A prenatal decision-making guide offers a comprehensive discussion of the choices prospective parents will be presented with after hearing unexpected results from prenatal testing. Whether or not to end the pregnancy is a very complicated and difficult decision-one the family needs to make carefully with as complete information as possible. Living through the decision, the procedures or pregnancy, and afterwards are all addressed gently but forthrightly.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Center
Support Group - no link
No online address Referrals, educational programs, volunteer opportunities, publications, newsletter Loving Arms, and handbook Empty Arms 1421 E. Wayzata Blvd. #30 Wayzata, MN 55391 612-473-9372

Share: Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support, Inc.
Support Group
Touching Lives....Healing Hearts....Giving Hope....The mission of Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support, Inc. is to serve those whose lives are touched by the tragic death of a baby through early pregnancy loss, stillbirth, or in the first few months of life. All information packets, correspondence, and support are free of charge for bereaved parents. Helping Bereaved Families Since 1977 Share is dedicated to supporting parents and families throughout the United States, as well as internationally. Most of the states, as well as Canada and England, have local offices to provide support.

SPALS: Subsequent Pregnancy After Loss
Support Group
SPALS is a warm and compassionate group of people who have experienced the loss of a child due to miscarriage, selective termination, stillbirth, neonatal death, sudden infant death, or accidental death. In addition to information given on the page, there is a SPALS list people can join.

Still to be born
Source/Author: Pat Schwiebert, RN, and Paul Kirk, MD 
Grief material to purchase. Still to be Born is a well-written and informative book on what happens next. It truly is "A Guide For Bereaved Parents Who Are Making Decisions About Their Future." Still to be Born talks openly about whether or not to get pregnant again, and factors that should be considered before that decision is made. It also discusses medical considerations, other options, and warns about confusing grief with an attempt for a "replacement child." This book is vital for anyone who is contemplating pregnancy after the pain of miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death.

Wisconsin Stillbirth Service Program
Source/Author: The Wisconsin Stillbirth Service Program (WiSSP)
Support Group
Provides families and health professionals of Wisconsin with comprehensive services for the evaluation of stillborn infants. Lack of such a program left few stillborns adequately assessed, thus leaving medical providers and counselors at a loss to answer grieving parents' most consuming questions, "Why did this happen?" and "Will this happen again?" It was in this context that WiSSP was established

Mommies enduring neonatal death
Support Group
M.E.N.D. (Mommies Enduring Neonatal Death) is a Christian, non-profit organization that reaches out to families who have suffered the loss of a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth, or early infant death. We publish free bi-monthly newsletters, hold two commemorative ceremonies each year, and host a variety of support groups in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. We also have chapters in NW Arkansas, Kansas, Houston, and Georgia.

Grief Watch
Support Group
A WEB catalog of bereavement resources that include beautiful, tiny urns to hold a baby's ashes, personalized announcement cards, and special albums for keeping precious memories (such as photographs, a lock of hair, footprints, etc.), Many handcrafted items that can help you honor your baby's short life.

The Compassionate Friends
Support Group
Grief support after the death of a child. The mission of The Compassionate Friends is to assist families toward the positive resolution of grief following the death of a child of any age and to provide information to help others be supportive.