9 May 2023, 14.00 – 15.30

Online Via Zoom

When we learn that we are to be parents we are touched by wonder. A new life is created and that life is unique to us.

For some of us this dream of a perfect family future is shattered by the early death of our baby, toddler or very young child. We are devastated and in shock. We may experience a sense of loneliness and isolation as we struggle to comprehend the depth of our loss. We might suffer the extreme emotions of grief – shock, numbness, memory loss, anger and low self-confidence. We may feel as if we have somehow failed in our parental role.

Deep down none of us accepts that our baby or young child could die. Losing a younger child means that we may have missed out on so many milestones. Managing our own grief is hard enough but how do we deal with our partners, our children, our friends and our child’s grandparents? How do we manage our loss if we have another baby or if we are unlikely ever to do so?

Please note: Our support is for parents who have given birth to a baby who then tragically dies in the weeks and months following birth and up to 4 years old. Please note that loss of a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth or other neo-natal loss is best supported through other agencies. TCF supports after the loss of a baby from one month old.

At this time we are running this event as a facilitated online group using Zoom .

Unfortunately due to the nature of online groups we will be limiting the number of attendees and booking is via our website. We will confirm your attendance by email.

If this event is fully booked we are hoping to run further groups at a later date to give more parents the opportunity to attend. Please note we will be giving priority to those who have not attended an online group before.

Once you book you will receive more details closer to the meeting date. Just a reminder to check your spam or junk email folders if you haven’t received the link for the online meeting by the day of the meeting. Please contact info@tcf.org.uk if you have any questions or queries.

Please note the group is for UK residents only.

Please note that these online events are run by bereaved parent volunteers. Our volunteers are not professionals and so what we offer is a uniquely warm, comforting and supportive online group organised and facilitated by parents who have also experienced the loss of a child and have found understanding and hope themselves through The Compassionate Friends.

If you are newly bereaved:
Please note, our online support group meetings may not be the most appropriate form of support for very newly bereaved parents. We know how vulnerable we can be in the early weeks and months of our grief and how raw the pain and heartache can feel.

In an online support environment, we will of course do all we can to express our empathy to newly bereaved parents verbally but we won’t be able to offer the very important physical presence and contact that physical groups can offer especially when parents become very upset. Our online meetings tend to be shorter than physical meetings which also means that we won’t have as much time to hear from all group members in the ways in which we would do if we were meeting face to face.

We know that in the early days of our grief, there is a strong need to tell our ‘story’ about the loss of our precious child. We know that this is a very important part of grieving – however, our support groups, whether online or face to face can only offer the opportunity to say a little about your loss and in not too much detail so as to enable everyone to have a chance to speak and also to minimise the risk of anyone attending being re-traumatised around their own loss by hearing graphic details of someone else’s loss. It would help to know how early you are in your loss and whether you are already receiving TCF support – what we don’t wish to do is increase the vulnerability of any bereaved parent by not managing your expectations about what our support group offers and is unable to offer. We may make contact if we need to explore with you whether our online group support is the most appropriate way to support you at this stage in your loss.

Some feedback from a parent in a previous group:

"I like that it was a very small group and I could relate to the other parents and their situations. It was nice to speak to parents who understand the guilt and what ifs that you have everyday when you think about the child you lost."

"The other people in the group offer support and understanding of my emotions and feelings. The members of the group all had their own time to speak, and were given the time they needed."

Please give your feedback here.