Helpful reading material & resources

They Were Still Born
Edited and Introduced by Janel C. Atlas with contributing author, Candy McVicar
In 2006, Janel Atlas became one of those mothers who left the hospital with empty arms; her second daughter, Beatrice Dianne, was stillborn at 36 weeks. Reaching out for comfort, she realized a dire need shared by so many others like her, and so was born a collection of new essays by writers each sharing their firsthand experiences with stillbirth. Atlas includes selections not only from mothers but also fathers and grandparents, all of whom have intimate stories to share with readers. In addition, there are selections that answer many of the medical questions families have in the wake of a stillbirth and that offer the latest research on this devastating loss and how it might be prevented. Grieving parents will find in these pages the comfort of knowing they are not alone on this painful path, validation of their babies' lives, and guidance from those who have suffered this tragedy. In addition, They Were Still Born both inspires and shows readers how to honor and remember their own babies and stories of loss.

Angel Chase and His Mommy's Sign
by Colleen Severance Connelly
The website is about the book "Angel Chase and His Mommy's Sign", the story behind the book and also includes a blog page with additional musings by the author and those shared by others.

A Place to Remember: Home Page
Comprehensive Infant/Miscarriage Loss Materials and Gifts

Bereavement Magazine
Designed to be a "support group in print" - a friend who arrives in the mailbox. six times each year.

Forever Our Angels
Pregnancy loss survivor and awareness activist Hannah Stone reaches out to grieving parents. Her books, "Forever Our Angels" and "Remembering Our Angels: Personal Stories of Healing from a Pregnancy Loss" are first-account stories of pregnancy loss by grieving parents for grieving parents.

Forgotten Tears: A Grandmother's Journey Through Grief
by Nina Bennett
Forgotten Tears is a unique and honest portrayal of a grandmother's grief journey following the stillbirth of her granddaughter. A distinctive feature of this book is the validation of grandparents as mourners in their own right. Although the main emphasis is on miscarriage, stillbirth, or newborn death, the exploration of the grief process is applicable to the death of a grandchild at any age. Forgotten Tears challenges the very concept of resolution and openly discusses the belief that grief is an ongoing,lifelong process. Numerous suggestions for coping and ways to memorialize deceased grandchildren are offered.

Haloes Lending Library
Gina Johnson started a lending library in memory of her son Phillip Thomas who was stillborn on November 28, 1999, at full term. If you're interested in starting a lending library in your local support group she provides a wonderful list of books that are helpful. You can also make a donation to her lending library in your child's name and if your local hospital is in need of books she can also help provide the resources and may fund some of the cost.

Journeys: Stories of Pregnancy After Loss
Published by WovenWord Press
A collection of chapter pairs highlighting pregnancy loss and subsequent pregnancy. Each parent describes the loss experience, his or her grief process, and how they coped through the next anxiety-ridden pregnancy.

Life Touches Life: A Mother's Story of Stillbirth and Healing
by Lorraine Ash
The author shares her journey of losing her daughter and only child, Victoria Helen who died in utero on the day that should have been her birthday. Victoria succumbed to a Group B Strep infection that almost killed her mother, too. During the difficult and life-transforming months and years that followed, Ash wrote the book she longed for but could not find. Life Touches Life is a road map from pain and chaos to understanding and acceptance.

Losing Emily
A Journey Through Stillbirth to Finding Peace and Embracing New Hope by Tammy Anderson
"A powerful and moving must read story based on the author.s own heartfelt, painful journey of surviving the stillbirth of her daughter Emily at 37.5 weeks of pregnancy. Losing Emily reaches out to help grieving parents as they embark on their journey of healing by offering words of comfort and peace, a much needed connection to someone who has been there and understands the struggles and true depth of the unimaginable pain of losing a baby. Whether your loss be from a miscarriage, stillbirth or early infant death; there is no greater heartbreak than losing your much loved and wanted child. Through Emily.s tragic death, her legacy lives on by sharing a message of new hope to help bereaved parents as they move through the difficult and lonely process of healing while finding new strength and courage to carry on without your child."

Mitchell Journey
by Kathy Jo (Dragsten) Haugan
Written by a mother who wrote (and self published) a book about her son and her journey through grief. Mitchell David died at almost three months of age from complications from being born with Down Syndrome.

Mourning Sarah
by Theresa Huttlinger Vigour
Infertiltiy, miscarriage, and newborn death. Those three are topics in the author's new book, Mourning Sarah. The bereaved mother couldn't find anything to read that addressed what she was going through in 1981 when her newborn daughter died of group B strep infection.

Our Baby, Our Love, Our Loss
by Kathi Evans BSN, RNC
In Our Baby, Our Love, Our Loss you will share with the Evans family the emotional, physical, and spiritual roller coaster surrounding the loss of their child at the beginning of the fifth month of pregnancy. Kathi shares honestly and from her heart the things that "we did 'right' and learned from, as well as the things we did 'wrong,' from which we learned even more."
Kathi understands that for a person who is struggling to "make sense out of the senseless," it's not about "right or wrong," but rather about how to heal from the tragic loss of a baby more gracefully. You'll find suggestions for Dad, what to say to your other children, how to celebrate your child, and how and when to "move on," as well as practical tips on everyday things, like rest and nutrition. When all is said and done, it is Evans' hope that along with the tears, healthy anger, and maybe even a few chuckles, will come healing.

Stressed Out!!!
by Mary L. Reed-Gates
Understanding how stress ravages the nervous system and how to protect and regain its health. Book is available through Amazon.

Where is Chloe?
by Donna A. Wilkins, M.D.
The death of an infant is one of the hardest events a family can face. Parents and their other children can be left feeling lost and confused. Now there is a children's book by a medical doctor that can help bring hope to grieving families. Where is Chloe?, for 4- to 8-year-olds, was written by Indiana neonatologist Donna A. Wilkins, M.D., to read with children who are trying to understand the loss of an infant sibling. Dr. Wilkins looked for a book to meet the needs of a family who had lost an infant, but she found nothing designed for children. So she turned her expertise and love of books for into this gentle, rhyming story of a little girl who is full of questions about her sister s death. Am I still a big sister? Was it something I said? Was it something I did? Is there someone to hold her in case of a storm? Can I travel to heaven? Where is Chloe? is written from a Christian perspective, offering hope in Jesus and the hope of seeing Chloe in heaven one day. The book's easy rhymes, charming illustrations, and loving message are perfect for children needing answers amid the confusion and grief of losing an infant sibling.

Wintergreen Press
Sherokee Ilse is a Bereaved Parent, International Speaker and Author of Empty Arms and many other books. Mission: To help improve the care families receive during and after the death of their child or loved one of any age. We commit to publish and distribute sensitive, quality products, to respond as soon as possible, and to network and help locate resources to aid grieving families and the care providers who serve them. Wintergreen Press is located in Minnesota.