Resources for grieving parents
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Network at Sunnybrook
Please visit Pregnancy and Infant Loss Network at Sunnybrook. We help bereaved parents and families across Ontario with a variety of support services following a loss.
In Times of Miscarriage or Loss of a Baby
You may have intense feelings and difficulty in communicating with friends and relatives following the sudden, unexpected and shocking loss of your pregnancy and baby’s life. It is the hope of the members of the DAN Women & Babies Program that these resources will be the beginning in an understanding of your grief.
» Early pregnancy loss: your questions answered
» Silent grief booklet (pdf)
The Butterfly Garden
The Sunnybrook DAN Women & Babies Program welcomes you to The Butterfly Garden, located in the space between the Veterans Centre (L-Wing) and Parking Garage 2.
The garden is for love, remembrance, and in honour of those special children who are forever in our hearts. Please join us at our annual remembrance ceremony, each year on the second Sunday in September.
Email butterflygarden@sunnybrook.ca to RSVP and to receive an email reminder about the event.
The Butterfly Garden also welcomes you to visit on your own time during the spring, summer and fall.
Web resources for grieving parents
When a baby dies, we look for answers, someone to talk to and someone to hear us. This listing is intended to help you start your journey.
Baby Steps
This site was created by a family whose son died. It is connected with The Hospital for Sick Children and has many resources and interactive areas for people who want to pay tribute to their loved ones, or who want to learn more about their grief.
www.babysteps.com
Bereaved Families of Ontario Site
This organization helps families dealing with the death of any family member. They provide excellent support groups for siblings and have access to wonderful resources.
www.bereavedfamilies.net
Centering Corporation
Your grief resource center contains information to help grieving parents (which can be purchased), as well as online resources and links to other websites of interest.
www.centering.org
Coping Centres
Coping Bereavement Support Groups of Ontario –Ros and Glenn Crichton run several centres for families working through the loss of a loved one.
www.copingcentre.com
EriChad Grief Support
Home of loving support for bereaved parents. This site contains links to parent-created sites which tell their story and their children’s stories.
www.erichad.com
Parent Book Store (Toronto)
This store is available on line and has lots of resources for parents, including information on grief and bereavement for parents as well as siblings.
www.parentbooks.ca
Robert’s Press
This Canadian site provides many resources for purchase for grieving people.
www.robertspress.ca
Three Trees
The mission of Three Trees, Inc. is to provide a supportive, comforting environment for grieving children and their families who have experienced the death of a loved one.
www.threetrees.org
Wintergreen Press
Resources for families and caregivers around loss and grief. Sherokee Ilse has written many of the resources that are used to support grieving families.
www.wintergreenpress.com
The Secret Club Project
Through a variety of media – including painting, drawing, computer art, photography, ceramics, printmaking, blown glasswork and installations – the Secret Club artists help us move beyond the isolation that so often accompanies this unique kind of loss.
www.secretclubproject.org/home.html
Resources and chat rooms
Baby Centre
Grief and loss pages on a website dedicated to information for new and expectant parents.
www.babycenter.com/pregnancy/pregnancygrief/index
Crisis, Grief and Healing: Men and Women (Tom Golden, LCSW)
Information and support for grieving people. Tom specializes in issues of men’s grief.
www.webhealing.com
FertilityPlus
Information written by patients, for patients (very thorough).
www.fertilityplus.org/faq/miscarriage/resources.html#web4
SHARE
Support organization providing education and resource materials for both parents and professionals.
www.nationalshare.org
Subsequent pregnancy resource
Subsequent Pregnancy After Loss Support
Offers a closed chat and support group. The group supports a tremendous diversity of loss experiences.
www.spals.com
This list was compiled by Lori Ives-Baine, RN; © The Hospital for Sick Children
Revised December 2008 by Eileen McMahon, RN(EC), MN, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and reproduced with permission.
