Support After Loss: Local & Online Resources
Written by Shay Gabriel
October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. This month, we hold extra space for those who have lost a child anywhere along the journey from pregnancy to infancy. Our hearts are with you…we light a candle in remembrance with you.
I first connected with Annica, Sprout and Blossom’s founder and primary doula, when I was in early pregnancy after loss: a time of gentle congratulations…a time to practice courage over fear…a time when I still craved an unmet need to feel truly seen and known. We bonded over a shared love of the Enneagram and the Birthful Podcast, among many other things. But the real magic was in the moment I shared with Annica about my experience with pregnancy loss. I can’t put into words the sense of belonging I felt when she answered “me too.” I knew I was in good hands. I knew she could understand a part of me that not everyone could. The truth is, as much as support from all our people matters (and believe me, it does matter SO much) there’s a unique power that comes from bonding with others who have faced similar circumstances.
Sometimes we find that connection in a friend or family member. Perhaps we find it in our new doula. Or maybe we find it in a specific Facebook group. However and wherever the connections may form, we hope and trust that anyone in search of belonging will find it.
To that end, and in honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month, we want to share with you a list of pregnancy and infant loss support resources local to Grand Rapids.
Please feel free to save and share the printable file below, which also includes support for pregnancy and postpartum.
Sharing Our Untimely Losses (SOUL)
The Maternal Wellness Program offers this support group for parents who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, or neonatal death. The group provides an opportunity to meet in a supportive environment with others who have experienced a similar loss.
maternalwellnessprogram.org/groups
Pregnancy After Loss Support (PALS)
Pregnancy After Loss Support (PALS) is a community support group for pregnant parents who have experienced a previous loss due to miscarriage, stillbirth, or neonatal death. PALS also moderates Facebook groups offering peer-to-peer support during all stages of pregnancy after loss, including trying to conceive, pregnancy, & parenting after loss.
maternalwellnessprogram.org/groups
Ele’s Place
Ele's Place is a healing center for grieving children, teens, young adults, and their families. Peer-to-peer bereavement support groups help hundreds learn to cope and begin to heal after the death of a parent, sibling, or someone close to them.
Shay Gabriel is the Content Director at Sprout and Blossom whose love of parenthood and psychology has merged into a super-obsession with all things birthy and baby. She believes an informed experience lends to an empowered experience, no matter where you are along the journey.