There are so many resources out there for grieving families. These are just a few that I have actually found helpful, or have heard about from others who have walked this same path.
Photography:
I cannot tell you how much we treasure the images we have of Jeremiah. They are one of the only physical things we have to remind us of him aside from a lock of his hair. There is an amazing network of photographers who provide a free service to bereaved families of infants called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. This is something that you may not think you will want, but later may regret. Please let someone take pictures! It will mean the world to you later down the road.
Websites:Missing Grace: Website of a couple who lost their baby in the 3rd trimester. They went on to found the Missing Grace Foundation. (
Missing Grace Foundation: Founded by grieving parents. A wealth of information and resources.
Cradle In Heaven: a website put together by grieving parents filled with great encouragement and Biblical truth.
Wintergreen Press
Sherokee Ilse is a Bereaved Parent, International Speaker and Author of Empty Arms and many other books. Mission: To help improve the care families receive during and after the death of their child or loved one of any age. We commit to publish and distribute sensitive, quality products, to respond as soon as possible, and to network and help locate resources to aid grieving families and the care providers who serve them. Wintergreen Press is located in Minnesota.
A Place to Remember: Home Page
Comprehensive Infant/Miscarriage Loss Links
A Place to Remember: Links and Resources
Provides uplifting support materials and resources for those who have been touched by a crisis in pregnancy or the death of a baby. Excellent resource for Grief and Infant loss books, cards and mementos.
Books:
Empty Arms, by Pam Vredevelt
Empty Arms: Coping With Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Infant Death
English and Spanish Versions by Sherokee IlseEmpty Arms is a unique and encouraging book that reaches out to all who have been touched by infant death or miscarriage. With compassion and sensitivity, the author, who has been there herself, offers practical suggestions and support for the decision-making at the time of the loss and in the days and months that follow. Contains an excellent bibliography and resource section.
Remembering With Love:, Messages of Hope For The First Year of Grieving And Beyond,by Elizabeth Levang, Ph.D and Sherokee Ilse
Remembering reflects the grieving process itself. During the trying early days after a loss, the authors offer immediate words of encouragement for daily reading. As the weeks and months progress, issues change, and the book allows you to select the message that best speaks to you on a particular day.
Over three hundred entries, with quotes from people who have coped with their own losses, remind you that you are not alone, and that you can and will survive. These messages of hope bring assurance that one of the secrets to healing lies in remembering your loved one forever.
I'll Hold You in Heaven, by Jack Hayford
Jack Hayford provides compassionate answers to troubling questions such as, What happened to my baby after he died? Will I ever see my baby again-and will I recognize him? what happens if I've had an abortion? Does God have a reason for letting my child die? God's Word shines with hope in the dark night of human pain. God showed his tenderness when David lost the child he had with Bathsheba shortly after its birth. In his pain and grief, David spoke the word of revelation-reassuring word of God's truth-saying, "I will go to (my child) but he will not return to me" (2 Samuel 12:19-23). The freeing truth of the Word of God promises that, like David, you will hold your child again in heaven.
Life Touches Life: A Mother's Story of Stillbirth and Healing
by Lorraine Ash
The author shares her journey of losing her daughter and only child, Victoria Helen who died in utero on the day that should have been her birthday. Victoria succumbed to a Group B Strep infection that almost killed her mother, too. During the difficult and life-transforming months and years that followed, Ash wrote the book she longed for but could not find. Life Touches Life is a road map from pain and chaos to understanding and acceptance.
Journeys: Stories of Pregnancy After Loss
Published by WovenWord Press
A collection of chapter pairs highlighting pregnancy loss and subsequent pregnancy. Each parent describes the loss experience, his or her grief process, and how they coped through the next anxiety-ridden pregnancy.
Forgotten Tears: A Grandmother's Journey Through Grief
by Nina Bennett
Forgotten Tears is a unique and honest portrayal of a grandmother's grief journey following the stillbirth of her granddaughter. A distinctive feature of this book is the validation of grandparents as mourners in their own right. Although the main emphasis is on miscarriage, stillbirth, or newborn death, the exploration of the grief process is applicable to the death of a grandchild at any age. Forgotten Tears challenges the very concept of resolution and openly discusses the belief that grief is an ongoing,lifelong process. Numerous suggestions for coping and ways to memorialize deceased grandchildren are offered.
Streams in the Desert, Hope for the Hurting Hearts, by L.B. Cowman
A compilation of inspirational writing from a variety of sources collected during a dark time in the author's life while her husband was terminally ill.
An Empty Cradle A Full Heart, by Christine O'Keeffe Lafser
Reflections for mothers and fathers after miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death
Pregnancy & High Risk Issues
The Pregnancy Institute
The Pregnancy Institute, Inc., is a non-profit organization created to study normal pregnancies. It is designed to promote the likelihood of healthier pregnancies resulting in well monitored, full-term live births. Jason Collins MD., OB/GYN is the Founder and President of The Pregnancy Institute and is a clinician who has researched the causes of stillbirth for close to 20 years. He is a remarkable man, who's life cause is prevention and awareness of stillbirth. He is a true advocate for moms and their babies, helping them to achieve positive outcomes. Bereaved moms find that he provides the answers to difficult "How" and "Why" questions that many will not answer. Bereaved moms who are in a subsequent pregnancy are encouraged to call for assistance. The Pregnancy Institute can provide services to monitor the baby in the third trimester at the mother's own home, helping with ease of mind, and prevention of another stillbirth.