Bereaved Parents Awareness Month | July, 2024
July is Bereaved Parents Awareness Month. Parents who have experienced the death of their baby or child don’t need a month to remember the impact their child’s death has had on their lives. Every day is a reminder of the lifelong grief and love they feel for their child.
This month is an opportunity for the rest of the community to check in on bereaved parents in their lives. For workplaces to reflect on how they do or actively don’t support bereaved parents. For society as a whole to acknowledge that we can and need to do better to support bereaved parents.
We can intentionally sit in the grief bereaved parents feel, even if only briefly.
We can listen to bereaved parents and learn how to support them and know that will dynamically change over time.
Experiencing the death of a child is not something anyone can fix or make better. There is no bright side, no higher reason their child needed to die. Their immeasurable love and grief deserves ongoing support.
As birth workers (birth photographers and doulas), Gather Birth Cooperative actively supports bereaved parents as often as needed. For those who don’t know, we provide photography pro-bono to families experiencing the death of their baby or child. We’ve photographed families experiencing the stillbirth of their child, families in their homes or in the hospital as they prepare to remove medical support, documenting memorial or funeral services, and future family/expecting family sessions that are trauma informed and honors their dead child.
To all bereaved parents and their child(ren), you are seen, you are loved, and you are held.
XO, Britt + the rest of the Gather Birth Team
Thank you to the family pictured in this post for your vulnerability, honesty, and advocacy for your family and other families who have experienced infant/child death. Julia, you are forever loved and missed beyond measure.
