Brighton & Hove City Council (for practical advice)
Here you can find information about local crematoria and cemetries, as well as practical advice about what to do when someone dies. There is also information about local support organisations.
Midwives and Parents Support (MAPS)
Information and support for bereaved parents, run by midwives at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath. Holds monthly support meetings, allowing parents to share thoughts, feelings and experiences in a safe and confidential environment. The service is open to anyone who has lost a baby, whenever and wherever the birth occurred, and endeavours to trace babies for parents who don't know what happened to them. Also provides support to couples who are expecting another baby after a loss.Meetings are held on the first Friday of each month at 7.30pm in the room adjacent to the antenatal clinic at the Princess Royal Hospital.
Tel 01444 441881 (ext 8485). Ask for Pam Parsons.
Forget-Me-Not Families
A support group for parents and families that have lost a baby in pregnancy, birth or early life in Worthing and the surrounding areas.
Tel: 07838 116 277
Email: rosemary@forgetmenotfamilies.org
Write to Forget-me-not Families, 5 Coleridge Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN12 6LR
www.forgetmenot-families.org
Cruse Bereavement Care
Offers information and support to anyone who has been affected by a death. Services include on-to-one counselling and drop-in sessions.
Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton
Tel: 01273 234007
Email: brightoncruse@yahoo.co.uk
www.crusebereavementcare.org.uk
Brighton and Hove Bereavement Support
A free service available to anyone in Brighton who has suffered the loss through death of someone they love. Trained support workers can meet you at home or in the central Brighton office.
Tel 01273 772210 or 328767.
Drop-in sessions at Chapel Royal, 164 North Street (opposite a shop called The Pier).
Stepping Stones
Brighton-based support helping children and young children cope with bereavement. Part of Brighton and Hove Bereavement Support.
Tel: 01273 772210
Email step.stone@btinternet.com
Brighton and Hove Samaritans
Provides confidential emotional support to any person who is suicidal or despairing.
Tel: 01273 772277/08457 909090
Email: jo@samaritans.org.uk
www.samaritans.org.uk
Threshold Women's Counselling Service
Provides free to low-cost counselling for women in Brighton.
Email: infoline@thresholdwomen.org.uk
www.thresholdwomen.org.uk
NATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
National Sands
Provides support to anyone affected by the death of a baby; promotes better care for bereaved parents among health professionals; promotes research into the causes of stillbirth and neonatal death.
Helpline: 0207 436 5881 (manned Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm; 24-hour answerphone)
Head office: 020 7436 7940
Email: support@uk-sands.org
www.uk-sands.org
Sands online forum website
This online resource allows bereaved parents to share thoughts and experiences in a confidential, secure environment. There is also a separate section for parents who are pregnant again after losing a baby.
http://sandsforum.org
Babyloss
An online support resource for anyone affected by the death of a baby during pregnancy, at birth or shortly afterwards. Each October, Babyloss joins forces with other national charities to run remembrance events and to raise awareness about pregnancy and infant loss among the general public and health professionals.
www.babyloss.com
The Miss Foundation
Online support following the death of a child.
www.missfoundation.org
ARC (Antenatal Results and Choices)
A national charity that provides non-directive support and information to parents throughout the antenatal testing process, to help parents arrive at the most appropriate decision for them if testing reveals that there is a risk of their baby being born with an abnormality.
www.arc-uk.org
