Loss

If you have experienced a loss, I am so, so sorry.

If you need extra support at the hospital or home, please reach out to me.

Perinatal Hospice

Perinatal Hospice & Palliative Care: Information about perinatal hospice and palliative care, including many resources for parents and caregivers as well as an international list of programs.

Funeral Arrangements

Bennett Funeral Homes Central Chapel (804) 359-4481

Bliley's Central (burial services), (804) 355-3800

Richmond Coach and Mortuary Services (cremation services), Kathy Elliott, (804) 514-0548

Local Richmond Area Grief Counselors

Jill Fitzgerald, LCSW (804) 257-9348

Karla Helbert, LPC (804) 892-2782

Johnna Showers, LCSW (804) 254-8991

Linda Zaffram, LCSW (804) 482-0852

Support Groups

Bereaved Parents Support Groups: For mothers and fathers enduring the death of a child, karla.helbert@missfoundation.org

Compassionate Friends-RVA Chapter: Offering understanding, friendship, hope, and a monthly support group to bereaved families.

Early Miscarriage Support Group: linda.zaffram@missfoundation.org

Hispanic Perinatal Loss Support Group by VCU Health: (804) 628-1992

Pregnancy After Loss Support Group by MISS Foundation: amy.mercurio@missfoundation.org

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support Group at Henrico Doctors' Hospital: (804) 977-5862

Sisters of Hope: A faith based group of bereaved moms who gather together monthly to support each other.

For Children

Remembering Our Baby (a workbook for children whose brother or sister died), A Centering Corporation Resource by Patti Keough

Sesame Street: Resource guide on grief for children

The Healing Your Grieving Heart Journal for Teens by Alan D. Wolfelt

The Invisible String by Patrice Karst

The Next Place by Warran Hanson

Waterbugs and Dragonflies by Doris Cleveland Stickney

We Were Gonna Have a Baby, But We Had an Angel Instead by Pat Schweibert

For Other Family Members

When a Grandchild Dies: What to Do, What to Say, How to Cope by Nadine Galinsky Feldman

Remembering Your Baby

Ethan's Flame: Memorial candles

Held Your Whole Life: Memorial jewelry

La Belle Dame: Jewelry to Support the Spirit

My Forever Child: Personalized Memorial Jewelry and Sympathy Gifts

Remembering Our Babies: Memorial Keepsake Boutique

Robby's Rabbits: Stuffed rabbits for bereaved parents

The Angel Pics Project: Photo retouching services are donated to the parents and families of a still born baby to make photos less difficult to look at (remove medical equipment, bruises, etc.)

The Kindness Project: This project is a way for families to honor their deceased child and to help themselves heal by doing acts of kindness in the community.

Connecting with Other Loss Families

Charlotte Raye: Local RVA parents Hannah and Peter share their experience of losing their daughter, Charlotte

Online Perinatal Loss Support

A Heartbreaking Choice: Support for those who have terminated a much wanted pregnancy.

Bereaved Parents of the USA: Bereaved parents from across the country offer support, understanding, encouragement and hope to fellow bereaved parents, siblings, and grandparents after the death of their loved one.

Carly Marie, Project Heal: Find what heals you. The woman who owns this site creates beautiful artwork, provides resources, and has created a community for bereaved people.

CJ First Candle: Committed to the elimination of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Sudden Unexpected Infant Death and preventable Stillbirths through education and research while providing support for grieving families who have suffered a loss. Grief counselors are available 24/7 at 1-800-221-7437.

Compassionate Friends: Provides 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.

Dogs on Call at VCU Medical Center by The Center for Human-Animal Interaction

Faces of Loss, Faces of Hope: Bringing awareness to the issues of miscarriage, still birth, and infant loss.

Full Circle Grief Center: Richmond's Comprehensive Grief Resource Center, Programs are led by professional counselors and are offered at no cost to participants.

Grieving Dads: A project designed to let society know that it’s okay for a father to grieve the loss of a child.

Grieving Out Loud: Started by bereaved parents to help families find their way back to life after pregnancy and infant loss

Healing the Spirit: Promotes healing and peace for organ and tissue donor families as they grieve the death of their loved one.

Hope After Loss: This site provides free peer bereavement support programs to women and men who grieve the loss of a pregnancy or infant.

Hope After Loss Center for Loss in Multiple Birth: This organization provides parent-to-parent support for all who have experienced the death of one or more of twins or higher multiple birth children at any time from conception through birth, infancy, and early childhood.

IRIS Remembers: Infants Remembered in Silence-This program is designed to assist parents from the time that they have found out that their child has died, through delivery, in the hours following delivery, and through the funeral.

M.I.S.S. Foundation: Mothers in Sympathy and Support, Provides counseling, advocacy, research, and educational services to families experiencing the death of a child.

Mothering Your Heart: Provides compassionate support and community for women who have experienced miscarriage, infertility, baby or child loss.

Remembering Our Babies October 15: Providing support, education, and awareness for those who are suffering or may know someone who has suffered a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, a still birth, or the loss of an infant

Share: Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support

Still Birthday: Resources to support pregnancy loss prior to, during, and after birth in any trimester.

Still Standing Magazine: An online magazine that empowers bereaved people to embrace life after loss.

Unspoken Grief: Their mission is to build and support a community of individuals and families who have been touched directly or indirectly by miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal loss. Working together to remove the stigma of perinatal grief by sharing stories and increasing awareness of the lasting effects of perinatal loss.

What's Your Grief?: A great resource for everything about grief.