Other Organisations
Here we have provided a number of helpful links that you can access for further support and information.
At A Loss
AtaLoss helps bereaved people find support and wellbeing.
Their vision is that no bereaved person in the UK should be left floundering or alone and unable to find support when they need it.
AtaLoss.org is the UK’s signposting and information website for bereaved people
Baby Loss Awareness Alliance
The Baby Loss Awareness Week Alliance are committed to raising awareness of pregnancy and baby loss, providing support to anyone affected by pregnancy loss and the death of a baby, working with health professionals and services to improve bereavement care, and reducing preventable deaths.
Baby Loss Awareness Week – Break the silence around baby loss (babyloss-awareness.org)
Birth Injury Center
Helpful information regarding Stillbirth and other types of birth injuries.
Intrauterine Fetal Demise (Stillbirth) | Birth Injury Center
CHAS (Children’s Hospice Across Scotland)
CHAS offers full family support for babies, children & young people with life-shortening conditions. Through their hospices, CHAS At Home service, hospital presence and now virtual hospice offering, they provide palliative care, family respite, bereavement care and support throughout Scotland.
Children’s Hospices Across Scotland | CHAS
Chris’s House
Chris’s House was founded by Anne Rowan, a Wishaw mum who lost her son Chris to Suicide in 2011. Anne had a passion for creating a crisis centre and by creating Chris’s House (a Centre for Help, Response, Intervention Surrounding Suicide), it is the first 24 hour, non-medical crisis centre in Scotland offering integrated support.
Chris’s House – Centre of Help, Response and Intervention Surrounding Suicide (chrisshouse.org)
Child Bereavement UK
Child Bereavement UK helps families to rebuild their lives when a child grieves or when a child dies. We support children and young people (up to the age of 25) when someone important to them has died or is not expected to live, and parents and the wider family when a baby or child of any age dies or is dying.
Men Matter Scotland
Men Matter exist to promote wellbeing and prevent suicide in men. They do this by supporting men’s mental health, creating an environment that promotes wellbeing and possibility and by holding weekly group sessions and activities, holding confidential peer to peer sessions and arranging referrals for intervention for men in distress.
Miscarriage Association
If you’ve been affected by miscarriage, molar pregnancy or ectopic pregnancy, Miscarriage Association can provide support through their pregnancy loss helpline, live chat service, telephone support volunteers and support groups.
The Miscarriage Association: Pregnancy loss information and support
Tommy’s
Tommy’s believe that every baby lost is one too many. They exist to support, care for and champion people, no matter where they may be on their pregnancy journey.
Together, for every baby – Charity for Babies | Tommy’s (tommys.org)
Meningitis NOW
Meningitis provide emotional, Practical and Financial support for everyone in the UK, who has been affected by meningitis completely free of charge.
Meningitis Now | Meningitis charity | Research and awareness | Meningitis Now
Strep B
Strep B is the the UK is the most common cause of life-threating infection in newborn babies under age a 3 Months.
Group B Strep Support – Working to stop group B Strep infection in babies (gbss.org.uk)
KIDLOCALE
“KidLocale is designed to be a resource for Scottish families to find everything they need for their kids in their local area. Along with things to do, retailers, childcare and education and courses, we want to support families in all aspects of life and are proud to work alongside Baby Loss Retreat to show families that there is support available after baby loss. We look forward to working with Bryan and Julie to feature their great work and events to raise funds for Baby Loss Retreat. Visit KidLocale today www.kidlocale.co.uk to find out what’s available in your area”
Simba Charity aims to ensure every family in Scotland receives the support they need following the loss of a baby. Simba has been supporting bereaved families for 20 years through the provision of beautiful ‘made with love’ Memory Boxes to enable parents to gather as many memories as they can. These Boxes are often described as a parent’s most treasured possession. In addition to Memory Boxes, Simba empowers communities to create peaceful Bereavement Rooms in local hospitals, providing comfortable and safe spaces to allow families the privacy they need to spend priceless time together with their baby before they say goodbye. Simba also supports the provision of Trees of Tranquility, where families can go and remember and honour their baby, now and always. For more information please visit www.simbacharity.org.uk.
Brief Lives – Remembered” was founded in July 2004 as a non-profit making organisation and in registered as a charity 2020. We are very proud to have celebrated 20th Anniversary in July 2024.
Our core aim is to support parents in any way possible when many decades ago their baby was stillborn or died soon after birth.
We have a unique speciality and believe that at the time of our founding we were the first ever charity / organization to specialise in this work.
We specialise in tracing the resting place of baby’s who died many years ago, including the late 1930’s, 1940’s, 1950’s 1960’s 1970’s & 1980’s. To date we have traced the resting place of over 3500 babies.
We have traced the resting place of babies who were stillborn or died soon after birth across the United Kingdom. We also take requests from around the world, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, America and many more. However, the baby must have been stillborn or died soon after birth in the United Kingdom.
Brief Lives – Remembered – Our story
The story began on the 2nd August 1960, when twins Zoe and Clive Gentle were born prematurely. Sadly, Zoe lost her fight for life and died at nine hours old. Clive survived and is living a full and happy life. It was on a visit to Sydney, Australia in 2003, that I first heard the names of Zoe and Clive Gentle whilst having a conversation with a friend. It was a conversation that would change her life in so many ways. I agreed to help Clive by tracing Zoe’s resting place and by the close of 2003 had discovered after a long and emotional journey that Zoe is buried at Aldershot Military Cemetery, Aldershot, Hampshire.
Brief Lives – Remembered” was established in July 2004 in honour of Zoe and as a way of ensuring that something positive and lasting would come out of her short life and subsequent death.
As the result of Zoe and her story, there is a greater awareness of the support and needs of families bereaved many years ago.
Summary – Long ago Bereaved
In the early 19th century right up until the 1980’s when a baby was stillborn or died shortly after birth many were usually buried in a communal grave with other babies or in a grave with a female adult. The parents had no say in what happened to their baby’s small body and there were no decisions to make about the baby’s burial. Because the hospital took care of the burial at that time, parents didn’t know where their baby was buried.
Fathers were certainly not present in the delivery room, and mothers didn’t even have a choice to see or hold their baby. In those days when stillborn babies were delivered, they were whisked away before their mothers could see them in what became known as the rugby pass.
Parents were sent home being told to “go and have another one” they were not encouraged to grieve or acknowledge their baby in any way. Many babies were unnamed.
Many bereaved parents who have traced their baby’s grave have said that they feel relieved, and more at peace. They feel they are finally able to grieve, acknowledge and remember their baby.
Website: www.brieflives-remembered.co.uk
Email: brieflivesremembered@hotmail.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brieflivesrememberedcharity?locale=en_GB