The Early Pregnancy Loss Association
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
    • Donate
    • Events
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

HOPE BLOOMS

sharing your stories and remembering your children

Burial Resources

3/4/2019

0 Comments

 
By: Nick Carrington EPLA Editor

In the traumatic aftermath of a miscarriage, parents must make numerous difficult decisions. They have just lost a child, a son or daughter dear to their heart if not held alive in their hands. Many families want to honor their child by burying him or her. Unfortunately, parents are often unfamiliar with how to go about burying a miscarried child as in most states there limited guidelines for miscarried remains.


The EPLA provides small boxes as part of our miscarriage supply kit, but alone, we can do only so much. We would like to highlight other organizations that provide important information and resources that help families affirm the dignity of their child through burial.

​One place families can start is with a local funeral home. Many funeral homes have information about the burial process and they will know what steps to take next if a cemetery burial is desired by the family.  


Heaven’s Gain
Heaven’s Gain “specializes in providing services and products for families suffering the loss of a child through miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death.” Their website also has information on how to move forward with a burial.
They offer a family advisor after a family loses a child with the following services:
  • Help prepare you and your family for the baby’s birth
  • Offer gentle support, guidance and reassurance
  • Assist in creating a birth preference plan factoring in knowledge of pros and cons
  • Aid in memory-making
  • Determine and advocate for your wishes, and act as a liaison with the medical community
  • Avail herself for advice before, during and after the birth of your baby
    Connect you with additional support resources


Heaven’s Gain also offers burial supplies such as 1st and 2nd trimester caskets and urns. They are a wonderful resource for both information and products.

Elizabeth Ministries
Elizabeth Ministries seeks to honor all life including children lost to miscarriage. A Catholic ministry, they have services geared toward churches but also provide several burial vessels and bereavement kits. They also have a burial gown that appears to be free.

Parents or loved one may also be interested in the prayer cards that Elizabeth Ministries produces. These prayers may be read at a burial service for a little one and kept as a reminder of the child. Elizabeth Ministries also offers coins and jewelry of remembrance that parents might want to either bury with the child or keep in honor of him or her.


Samuel’s Lullaby
Samuel’s Lullaby was started by April Newell after she lost her son, Samuel, late in pregnancy. Another woman in close proximity experienced a loss around the same time, and April decided to comfort her through a gift basket. She has now created baskets for families in over 20 states.

These baskets are free, though you may provide a donation to help keep them that way. Gifts after a death are common at burial services, and loved ones may consider these baskets as a way to comfort the family and honor the child.


Local Ministries and Organizations
Local ministries and organizations sometimes have resources available for families who have miscarried. For example, Treasures in Our Hearts, a Catholic ministry in Michigan, will have a burial for your child at no cost with garments and a burial box. A religious leader of your choosing will reside over a customized service at your request.

You may want to check with your local funeral home, church, or non-profit to see about burial supplies, services, and other accommodations. They may be able to help you decide how you want to honor your baby through burial.

Burying a Child
Burying a child is never easy. These organizations may make the process a little easier by answering your questions and by providing the necessary resources and accommodations. For loved ones, consider making a special effort to attend a burial service of a miscarried child if the parents invite you. They need to know that other people loved their child and want to honor him or her. It’s one way we can all share the grief of losing a child in the womb.

Nick Carrington is an Editor for the EPLA and Assistant Professor of Professional Writing at Cedarville University​​.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018

    Categories

    All
    Article Roundups
    Book Reviews
    Core Value Series
    Editorials
    Expert Perspective
    Organization Highlights
    Podcasts
    Stories Of Loss

    RSS Feed

P.O. BOX 179, Hillsdale, MI 49242.
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
    • Donate
    • Events
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Contact Us