HOPING is a parent-to-parent miscarriage, stillbirth and baby loss support group in Lansing, Michigan. The parents who attend our monthly meetings have lost a baby, and they understand what it’s like. Whether you have lost a pregnancy to miscarriage, a baby near term to stillbirth or complications during pregnancy or delivery, or have lost a baby after birth or from SIDS, this support group can help you work through your feelings of grief and loss. You will find support here, from parents who understand what it’s like.

You might feel like you are all alone, that you will never heal from this loss, that the darkest days are upon you. If you are feeling suicidal, please contact your doctor, a crisis counseling hotline, or call 911.

Our parents are on our Facebook group and on our online e-mail list, or via our hotline. Give us a call to help you through the hard days. We meet monthly at the Sparrow Professional Building in Lansing, MI, and we serve families from East Lansing, Holt, Grand Ledge, DeWitt, Lansing and surrounding communities. You are not alone.

February 14, 2013 – General HOPING Meeting

October 13
HOPING Parent moderator

November 10
HOPING Parent moderator

December
HOPING Memorial – Holiday. Special bi-annual event. December 8, 7:00pm. Candlelight meeting. Candles to decorate in memory of your baby will be provided.

January 12
HOPING Parent round table discussion
Parenting after loss: how parenting after loss changes the parent you are. Some topics include mother-loss-guilt issues, remembering your children with your living children, loss and remembrance rituals, celebrating birthdays and other milestones. During our special round table discussions, we will still reserve time to share and support parents of loss at any point in their loss, if you need support, please come, even if the discussion topic is not pertinent to you.

February
HOPING Parent round table discussion
Pregnancy after loss: what your next pregnancy may be like. How to cope with due dates, dates of loss at gestational ages, preparing for birth/healing after birth trauma and loss, bonding with your new baby. Parents that have been through loss and pregnancies after loss are strongly encouraged to attend to provide support for parents going through their first pregnancy after loss.

During our special round table discussions, we will still reserve time to share and support parents of loss at any point in their loss, if you need support, please come, even if the discussion topic is not pertinent to you.

March
HOPING Parent roundtable discussion
I’m not like anyone else anymore: how loss shapes the person you are. A roundtable discussion about how loss changes people. Share how you’ve taken your loss and changed your life. Discussion topics:  ‘Obligation of the Healed’ – how we must work to help others who are deep in their grief, finding your path to do what speaks to you, creating or establishing foundations or awareness campaigns or fundraising events around your son or daughter’s memory.

During our special round table discussions, we will still reserve time to share and support parents of loss at any point in their loss, if you need support, please come, even if the discussion topic is not pertinent to you.

April
HOPING Parent Moderator
Memorializing your baby through mementos, scrapbooks and journals. Many parents remember their babies in photos and scrapbooks. Some don’t have any reminder, and creating a memento – making mother’s bracelets, planting a garden or tree, journaling – all serve as important rituals for healing. In this session, we will explore various mementos, share our scrapbooks, and offer parents the chance to create a mother’s bracelet with birthstones for your babies. This is an ideal meeting for mothers and fathers to create a lasting keepsake in advance of May’s Mother’s Day celebration. If you wish to participate, instruction and materials will be provided (materials fee is not included, please RSVP on facebook and let us know your baby’s birthstone).

Please feel free to share these meetings on Facebook (see our Facebook group link in the sidebar). When you RSVP for a private group event such as HOPING, this does not show up on your wall unless you have changed your privacy settings to “public”.