MISCARRIAGE & INFANT LOSS
You are strong and this is hard. We are here for you. More importantly, God is near to you. Below are some resources available to help you in your grief.
Have questions or just need to talk? Call or text us at 409-898-4005.
Group Support
Meeting with other parents experiencing pregnancy loss can help make your experience feel less lonely.
Bo's Place
The Pregnancy Loss Group is an online group for mothers in the Greater Houston Area (Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller counties) who have experienced the death of a newborn, a miscarriage, or stillbirth. The group meets on Zoom once a week for five weeks. Available in English and Spanish.
Call 713-942-8339
Heal Grief
Grief is often isolating, but it doesn’t have to be anymore! Regardless of your ability to find local supportive services, HealGrief has made it possible to connect on a whole new level. It’s time to be heard, feel understood, and connect with others who understand your journey.
Register for the free app at www.healgrief.org/virtual-support/.
Hope After Loss
Free online community connections for bereaved parents, bringing together those who suffer a pregnancy and or/ infant loss. All support groups are run by trained facilitators who are all bereaved parents themselves. Groups include Pregnancy & Infant Loss, Trying to Conceive/Pregnancy After Loss, Parenting After Loss, Men's Grief Support, Termination for Medical Reasons Loss Support, and Men's Trying to Conceive/Pregnancy After Loss.
Visit www.hopeafterloss.org/support-groups for more information.
M.E.N.D.
M.E.N.D. offers several monthly options for online support through Zoom.
3rd Thursday - Nationwide Online Support Group - 8:00 PM CST
Don't live near a chapter of M.E.N.D. We offer an online nationwide support group to serve families who do not live near a physical chapter or for those who want to connect between in-person groups. This group meets from the comfort of your home through Zoom. The Zoom ID is 979 5869 8575. Those interested in attending the Online Group should complete the Info Sheet before joining. Contact Mallory Gallagher with questions at mallory@mend.org.
3rd Monday- Men of M.E.N.D. - 8:00 PM CST
We recognize that men and women grieve differently. A grieving dad may feel the need to connect and share with other grieving dads; this is a safe place to gather. This is a nationwide support group focused on helping dads navigate the loss of a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant death. This group meets through Zoom. The Zoom ID is 912 2894 1981. Contact Matt McGhee for questions at matt@mend.org
4th Tuesday - Pregnancy After Loss Support - 7:30 C.S.T.
After a loss, the thought of becoming pregnant again, or being pregnant again, can be scary. The journey through a subsequent pregnancy is full of ups and downs, and we are here to walk that journey with you. If you are considering becoming or are currently pregnant after a loss, this group is for you. This group meets through the online platform Zoom. The Zoom ID is 812 2580 2043. For more information, contact Marisa Perry at marisa@mend.org.
Share
Share is a community for anyone who experiences the tragic death of a baby. We serve parents, grandparents, siblings, and others in the family unit, as well as the professionals who care for grieving families. Share is a national organization with over 75 chapters in 29 states. Our services include bed-side companions, phone support, face-to-face and online support group meetings, resource packets, private online communities, comfort kits, memorial events, training for caregivers, and so much more. Should you need them, we hope you can also benefit from at least one of these many resources.
Visit www.nationalshare.org for more information.
Star Legacy Foundation
Through our national offices and our 20+ chapters across the United States, we provide family support materials and companion services to bereaved families, host a nationwide telephone grief support line for bereaved parents and health professionals, and provide online video support groups for bereaved parents, grandparents, and extended families, couples experiencing pregnancies after loss,
parents challenged by parenting living children after a loss, fathers, and coping with infant death.
Visit www.starlegacyfoundation.org/support-groups/ to register.
TCF of Southeast Texas
The mission of The Compassionate Friends: When a child dies, at any age, the family suffers intense pain and may feel hopeless and isolated. The Compassionate Friends provides highly personal comfort, hope, and support to every family experiencing the death of a son or a daughter, a brother or a sister, or a grandchild, and helps others better assist the grieving family.
Lumberton Chapter: Contact Cindy at 409-658-5326
Individual Support
If you're not ready to meet with others experiencing loss, individual support might be what you're looking for.
HealGrief
HealGrief Coaches are compassionate individuals trained with a deep understanding of grief. It is important to note that a HealGrief coach may not be a licensed mental health professional. HealGrief Coaches are focused on getting you back on your feet after a significant setback so you can achieve healthy post-bereavement growth. It is important to note that a HealGrief coach does not focus on grief-related emotions and conditions. HealGrief Coaches support you to move forward and focus more on what comes next after suffering a death loss. It is important to note that a HealGrief coach does not focus on your past or provide the necessary tools to explore unresolved feelings toward your relationship with your person.
Visit www.healgrief.org/grief-coach/ for more information.
Hope After Loss
Hope After Loss facilitators are available for individual support on an as-needed basis. All facilitators are bereaved parents and have been trained to support other grieving parents. Although this service is not clinical, the peer support program has been widely utilized by many grieving parents who seek guidance following the loss of their baby. Participants who have taken part in this individual support have reflected that it was helpful to speak to another bereaved parent who has lived their experience and can provide guidance, comfort, and connection. Once you connect with a facilitator, you can talk to them directly via phone or email at a time that works best for your schedule.
Visit www.hopeafterloss.org/individual-support for more information.
Star Legacy Foundation
Star Legacy offers a phone and text grief support line staffed by professionals with personal experience with pregnancy and infant loss. The support line is answered 8am-8pm CST. Voicemails are returned within 4 hours.
Call 952-715-7731 ext. 1
Text HELP to 952-715-7731
Star Legacy Foundation
The death of a baby is profound and impacts the entire family. Professional resources may be available, but sometimes, just talking to someone who has been down the same path can be very helpful. Our Peer Companion program coordinator will match newly bereaved individuals with a trained peer companion who has had a similar experience and, if possible, lives in close proximity.
Peers are available for the entire family, including mothers, fathers, grandparents, and more. Every effort is made to match new individuals with someone with the same type of loss history.
For more information about Peer Companions, visit www.starlegacyfoundation.org/peer-companions/.
Recommended Readings
Consider reading blog posts, magazine articles, devotionals, and books to help ease your experience and offer you comfort and peace.
And Then You Were Gone: Restoring a Broken Heart After Pregnancy Loss by Becky Avella
Pregnancy loss can leave an unbearable sadness and hole in your heart that feels impossible to mend. And Then You Were Gone chronicles one woman’s journey to healing after four miscarriages at different stages of pregnancy. Through honest personal reflection and in-depth Bible study, this book will point grieving hearts back to hope and joy. Written from the perspective of someone who has truly been there, this book will reveal the way to lasting healing. And Then You Were Gone is also a must-have resource for family members, counselors, and clergy who fear doing or saying the wrong thing. It will deepen your understanding of pregnancy loss and will provide tools and insight for effectively supporting grieving families.
Buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Then-You-Were-Gone-Restoring/dp/149910281X
Bereaved Parents of the USA
Normally, the newly bereaved, be they bereaved mothers, fathers, step-parents, grandparents or siblings, feel very alone in their grief journey. Reading articles and poems written by others who have “walked in their shoes” will help them to understand their own emotions and thoughts. Just finding someone else who can express the feelings to which they can relate their own grief will help to give them hope.
Find poems and articles here: www.bereavedparentsusa.org/resources/writings/
Center for Loss & Life Transition
Written by death educator and grief counselor Dr. Alan Wolfelt, Helping Your Family Heal After Miscarriage is an article exploring the reality of grieving your miscarriage.
Read the article at: www.centerforloss.com/2023/12/helping-family-heal-miscarriage/
Written by death educator and grief counselor Dr. Alan Wolfelt, Helping Your Family Heal After Miscarriage is an article exploring the reality of grieving your stillbirth.
Read the article at: www.centerforloss.com/2023/12/helping-family-heal-stillbirth/
Hope After Loss
Hope After Loss collects writing submissions from the community to share for other bereaved parents around the world to read, connect, and know that they are not alone. We hope that these stories bring you a sense of connection, support, and community.
Visit www.hopeafterloss.org/blog to read.
Hope for Today, Promises for Tomorrow: Finding Light Beyond the Shadow of Miscarriage or Infant Loss
Written from the perspective of one grieving mommy to another, Hope for Today, Promises for Tomorrow is a ten-week study that will encourage and challenge women to delve into a deeper understanding of God’s Word. As women engage in biblical teaching, they will learn to embrace God’s promises of love, goodness, purpose, comfort, peace, refinement, restoration, hope, and eternity. “Hope for Today” verses peppered throughout each chapter, journaling cues, prayers, and the stories of other women who have experienced loss will help readers move from grieving in silent solitude to living life in the richness of God’s love.
Buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Hope-Today-Promises-Tomorrow-Miscarriage/dp/0825442184
M.E.N.D.
If you are coping with miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss, our magazines can offer you hope and encouragement. In our early years, these were newsletters shared with hurting families needing hope and encouragement. As the need for our organization has grown, so has our newsletter into what is now the M.E.N.D. Magazine, as we continue to meet the needs of our readers. Please do not consider any magazine out of date. They all contain information that is ever timely. We hope these magazines provide a valuable resource for you.
Visit www.mend.org/newsletters-recent to read more.
Safe in the Arms of God: Truth from Heaven About the Death of a Child
"Is my baby in heaven?" This is the most important question a grieving parent can ask. And even if the little one is someone else's child, the issue remains: What happens to children - those unborn, stillborn, or youngsters - when they die? Can you hope to see them again? Can you let go of your fear and guilt? Can God's love soothe a wound so jagged? With scriptural authority and the warmth of a pastor's heart, bestselling author John MacArthur examines the breadth of the entire Bible and reveals in this compelling book the Heavenly Father's care for every life.
Buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Safe-Arms-God-Truth-Heaven/dp/0785263438
Other Support Resources
Still haven't quite found what you're looking for? Try these!
Caleb Ministries
Caleb Ministries ministers to women and families who have lost a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth, early-infant death, or women who struggle with infertility or who are post-abortive. We hope you will be blessed by others who have walked in your shoes.
“Comfort others with the same comfort we ourselves have been comforted by God (Paraphrase mine).” II Corinthians 1:3-4
Hannah's Prayer Ministries
We offer Christian support to help meet the emotional and spiritual needs of married women experiencing fertility-related difficulties through prayer, understanding, friendship, shared information, and Biblical counsel.
"...Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord...'I have been praying here out of my great anguish...'" ~ 1 Samuel 1:10, 16 (NIV)
Naomi's Circle
Here at Naomi's Circle, we find encouragement from the Naomi of the Scriptures who, having lost her husband and children, walked a long road of grief and bitterness until she could see God's hand at work in her life, redeeming her loss and sorrow for His glory. Along the way, she had the support of family and friends - which we want to be for each other as well.
Sufficient Grace Ministries
At Sufficient Grace Ministries, we believe that every life matters, no matter how brief. We offer a myriad of in-person and virtual support services and resources for families walking through loss in any gestation of pregnancy and throughout infancy, as well as those who are navigating the unknowns of a life-limiting prenatal diagnosis. You are not alone. We are here to walk with you.
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HAVE MORE QUESTIONS?
Text or Call 409-898-4005
We are here for you.