Nova Foundation - helping you find the right support

Support can come in lots of forms. It can come from your social support network, from charities with volunteers and befrienders, from a friendly voice and listening ear at the end of the phone, online, or therapeutic. You may find that you need different support at different times. Nova Foundation have outlined the main sources of support below.

Therapeutic support

Not all babyloss parents will need or want therapeutic support. Some people may prefer receiving peer to peer support, or attending support groups. Others may want a range of support. Some just know that they need therapeutic support to help them through this time. Below we provide different support options so that you can work out what is best for you.

There is a wide range of bereavement support out there but knowing where to start, or what you may need can be overwhelming.

In terms of therapeutic support often you will be referred and then have an initial assessment and have appointments every 1-2 weeks, these can be reviewed after 6-12 appointments. Counselling and therapeutic support are basically the same thing. You spend time with a trained professional who listens to you, works through issues with you and helps you identify resources to help live your life.

In regards to counselling/therapeutic support, if you are not sure whether you need it, ask yourself whether you feel anxious, unable to move on, overwhelmed or finding it hard to talk openly and fully with family and friends.

Grief Chat

Grief Chat provides free online bereavement support with qualified bereavement counsellors. They can also sign post to therapeutic support in your area.

Bereavement Midwife/hospital

Your bereavement midwife or hospital should have provided you with a booklet regarding support services. Some hospitals provide therapeutic bereavement support directly, you can ask your bereavement midwife if this is available to you.

Zephyrs in Nottingham provide nurturing support for babyloss parents.

Your GP

Your GP should also be able to refer you to free counselling within your borough, either through their mental health services or through charities in the area. If you do go to your GP really insist that you are referred, they may suggest that you wait six months and the first wave of grief is calmer.

Babyloss is a different form of bereavement and often has elements of trauma. You know what is best for you.

Counselling Support

Abigail's Footsteps provides free specialist face to face pregnancy & baby loss counselling for parents, both online to parents living anywhere in the UK, and face to face to parents living within SE London, Kent & Surrey. Their counsellor, Naomi, has undertaken extensive trauma and bereavement training to support babyloss parents

Teddys Wish provide free high quality counselling to bereaved parents who have experienced SIDS, Stillbirth and neonatal death both in person and remotely.

Held In Our Hearts provide counselling and befriending support to famuilies living in Scotland.

Lighthouse Therapy Services provide therapeutic support to parents who have experienced miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, neonatal loss and TFMR.

Petals delivers a free specialist counselling to women and partners who suffer psychological distress from trauma and grief related to pregnancy loss. Due to Covid their services have expanded online to provide babyloss parents with more support.

Pregnancy Crisis Care provide free, confidential counselling for any pregnancy loss within Plymouth and SE Cornwall, both for individuals and couples that have experienced babyloss.

Pregnancy Counselling & Care (Scotland) are based in Edinburgh and provide free, open-ended counselling for pregnancy-related issues including baby loss. The service is self-referral and is open to anyone for recent to historical losses. Professional babyloss support is also available free through hospices.

Children’s Hospice Support

Your nearest children’s hospice will be able to provide you with free bereavement counselling for babyloss. Hospices are very different environments to hospitals and are designed not to be triggering and to make you feel comforted. In England and Wales you can find your nearest childrens hospice here.

CHAS provide bereavement support, including counselling, to families in Scotland.

Your Local Mind

In England and Wales Mind can provide low cost counselling, and in many regions provides a specialist bereavement service. Find you local Mind

Child Bereavement UK

Child Bereavement UK can provide confidential booked telephone support sessions with a qualified counsellor for you as an individual, or with your partner. They can also signpost to support in your area 0800 02 888 40 or email support@childbereavementuk.org.uk.

Private support

You can also be seen privately. This involves a higher cost, but does mean you will be seen much quicker by a professional. If you would like to find a local therapist, you can use google to find bereavement counsellors in your area, or use the BACP website to find registered therapists in your area.

Workplace insurance

If your workplace has private health insurance you may be able to receive therapy from them. Check with your HR department if this is a possibility.

For Dad’s and partners

  • Charlie’s Childloss Charity is a community of babyloss dads that provides online, group and phone support to babyloss Dad’s. They have a closed facebook group for Dads, and were set up by a babyloss father. They provide face to face groups in Manchester but their support extends across the UK

  • Rich from Shoebox Full of Memories provides a father’s perspective of stillbirth, grief and parenting after a loss. Rich has also created an online resource for dads and partners here

  • Daddy’s With Angels provides free online support, advice and friendship to families following the loss of a child of ANY gestation or age and By ANY cause or reason. They are based in Northampton UK, but support families all over the world. They have regional facebook groups for fathers. Whilst their primary aim is supporting dads and other male family members following the loss of a child, they also have a families group where all adult family members can get some support.

Helplines and other support

  • Tommy’s run an excellent midwife run helpline 0800 0147 800

  • Sands, the original babyloss charity, provide peer to peer support, befriending and support groups, fund research and provide a wealth of bereavement and babyloss support resources. They also run a helpline run by volunteers who are babyloss parents themselves 0808 164 3332

  • The Miscarriage Association provide a nurturing helpline and online resources for families who have experience miscarriage 01924 200 799.

  • The Lullaby Trust provide support to parents who have experienced the sudden death of a baby. Through their CONI (care of next infant) programme, Lullaby provide caring support to parents who have experienced babyloss to help them feel reassured in subsequent pregnancies 0808 802 6868.

  • ARC provide support to parents who have had to make very difficult decisions after an prenatal diagnosis screening in pregnancy. Their helpline provides non directive support to parents 0845 077 2290 or 0207 713 7486 from a mobile or info@arc-uk.org

  • Life After Loss provide support groups in Northern Ireland and Warrington

  • Twins Trust provide support to families who have lost one or more children from a multiple birth, during pregnancy or at any stage afterwards. The Bereavement Support Group provides parent to parent support through a volunteer befriending service, who are all parents who suffered a loss from a multiple pregnancy themselves

  • Aching Arms - help bring comfort following loss of a baby during pregnancy, birth and infancy. They supply comfort teddy bears to parents via hospitals, hospices, support groups and funeral directors in the UK. As the bears are donated from one bereaved family to another, each bear also reminds parents they are not alone and there are others who understand. If you would like a comfort bear please visit their website or ask your hospital if they have one.

  • SLOW run weekly daytime support group in Islington, London, and monthly daytime support group in Streatham, South London, for bereaved parents.