Welcome to the
Parents Support Library

1. Don’t Rush The Funeral “One tip I would say to any newly bereaved father or indeed family, in terms of planning funerals and all of those sorts of horrible formal things, take your time, there...

The feelings that are experienced after the loss of a child can be powerful, unrelenting and all consuming. These may include anger, sadness, helplessness, guilt and loneliness. You may find yourself ...

To outlive your child goes against the natural order of things, so that the death of your child is probably the hardest thing that you will ever have to manage. It is the ultimate loss: of hopes and d...

In the beginning you may feel so shocked that your body and mind cannot even begin to comprehend all that has been lost. Your investment in such a precious life is immense and deep-rooted.

This volume provides guidance, support and wisdom for those who have lost a child. There is honest recognition of their grief and pain,and of the tragedy inherent in such loss.

The death of a child is perhaps the greatest tragedy that can occur to parents. Your will be changed by this devastating loss and you may and that your previous thoughts and plans about having another child will now also be affected.

Red Nose Grief and Loss is aware that people need different kinds of support at different times, so we offer you a range of bereavement support options.

The funeral is the last physical act of caring for your child. It is a time, amid profound grief, when you can acknowledge your child and the meaning your child’s life holds for you and your family.

You are reading this pamphlet because your baby, or babies, has died or will soon die. In the next few hours and days you will be faced with decisions that you may find difficult, especially as you struggle to understand what has happened. Support is available and we hope this pamphlet will give you information about the choices you have at this difficult time.

The death of a loved one is hard to understand at any time but, for many, the loss of a baby is incomprehensible. Yet this loss is experienced by one in every hundred families. For those families, the stillbirth or death of their newborn is something that will affect them, and their families, for the rest of their lives.

The death of a child is like no other death – it has been described as the ‘ultimate loss’, a loss of hopes and dreams, a loss of part of oneself as a parent, the loss of a role and purpose in society, a loss of a future with your child. This grief is not only painful, but profoundly disorienting – children are not supposed to die.

When a child dies suddenly and unexpectedly, it has an impact on the whole family. Like you, your surviving children will be deeply affected by the death of their brother or sister.

In our society we are often ill prepared to deal with grief. The death of a child is so unexpected that few of us have had time to think, let alone talk, about these issues.