Please help raise money for “Petals”
Petals is a charity that provides free counselling and support to parents who lose a baby.
Child birth for most of us is a time of joy. But a small percentage of parents lose their babies shortly before, during, or after birth. For these unfortunate people what should be a time of expectancy and joy is transformed into a time of unbearable grief and heartache. The pain doesn’t go away.
Just try to imagine it.
In their own words “Petals provides specialised counselling for parents suffering trauma or loss during pregnancy and birth”.
Raising money for Petals
Jonathan Mead is running in the ASICS 10km run in London to raise money for Petals.
In July 2017 Jonathan Mead and his wife Lia Shimada lost their baby Rowan. Here are Jonathan’s own words;
“After Rowan died, we had incredible support from Petals — a small charity that offers specialist counselling for parents who have lost an infant. They walked with us through the aftermath of Rowan’s death, and again through the difficult, frightening experience of Lia’s pregnancy with Brecon. We now want to help this charity, which operates on a limited budget, as they support other families through the frequently hidden, life-shattering experience of baby loss.
“On the 21 July, I will be running the British 10k in central London to raise money for Petals”.
Please visit Jonathan’s “just giving” page to donate
There is happiness too…
I am sure even people who have not experienced it, can imagine that if you have lost your first baby, getting pregnant again will be a time of great anxiety.
I am delighted to say that Jonathan and Lia successfully gave birth to baby Brecon on 9 March 2019.
“Remember My Baby”
What is my involvement in this story?
I first met Jonathan and Lia in the maternity ward of Kingston Hospital on 13 July 2017.
I was there in my capacity as a volunteer photographer for the UK charity “Remember My Baby”. I was responding to an urgent request for a rememberance photographer. Most of the requests we get are urgent.
I quote from the “Remember My Baby” website;
‘Remember My Baby’ (RMB) is a UK based registered charity which offers a gift of baby remembrance photography to all UK parents experiencing the loss of their baby before, during or shortly after birth.
Our goal is to offer a service of baby remembrance photography to all parents suffering the loss of their baby in every hospital and birth centre across the UK.
I may write about “Remember My Baby” and the work we do one day. But in the meantime please visit Jonathan’s just giving page and donate something to Petals.
Petals makes a real difference to individual suffering human beings
We are all of us constantly bombarded by requests from charities for help. Most are worthy causes and we as individuals can’t support them all. But Petals is a small charity that makes a real difference to individual human beings who need compassion and support right now (yes, even now this story is being repeated in homes and hospitals throughout the country).
I know because I see it.
