It is estimated that more than a million babies a year die in our country during pregnancy, at birth or within the first year of life.
On the first Thursday night of each month, Lynne Moffatt, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford Board of Trustees member, can be found welcoming parents to Share, a face-to-face support group for those who share the experience of losing their baby through miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death.
Lynne remembers the overwhelming grief and isolation she felt as she left the hospital without her baby girl in October 1979. She longed for someone to talk with that truly understood what she was going through. Thirty years ago, you didn’t talk about it in public and there were no support groups, so the yearning remained. Eventually Lynne met another young woman who had a similar experience and they decided to do something to honor their own babies, as well as to help the healing of others going through the loss of a child. They started the Share support group at Texas Health HEB in 1982 and have been listening to and supporting young parents ever since.
Lynne says the support group can be powerful for two reasons, “Listening to similar stories of other people and telling their own, parents come to realize they are not alone in this experience. The second reason is that when newly bereaved parents see others who have experienced some healing, having discovered some tools for coping, they are able to see hope for themselves, that they have a future even though they can’t see it yet.”
Lynne believes losing a child will make parents either bitter or better. She is committed to helping parents find their way toward being better, more compassion people as they heal from this terrible pain.
The Share group meets on the first floor of the hospital from 7-8 pm each 1st Thursday of the month. For more information about the Share support group, contact the Department of Pastoral Care at susanbriggs@texashealth.org or at 817-848-4811.
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