Other ways of remembering your baby

Over time, you may want to create additional ways of remembering your baby. For example, you may want to have your baby’s name or handprint or footprint engraved on a piece of jewellery, or to wear your baby’s birthstone. You could also inscribe a bench or a piece of sculpture with your baby’s name.

If you have a garden you could plant a tree, or a rose or other shrub (perhaps one that flowers or produces berries in the month in which your baby died). Or you could plant a small tree or shrub in a pot instead, so that you can take it with you if you move. There may also be special places or gardens locally where you can donate a bench or plant a tree in your baby’s memory.

You may like to visit the Sands Garden at The National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire. The garden is dedicated to the memory of all babies who have died and is a tranquil place where families can remember their own baby in peace. There is usually an Open Day and Memorial Service at the garden towards the end of June every year.

Other ways in which parents have chosen to remember their baby include: drying and pressing flowers from the funeral, planting a tree in a woodland or memorial arboretum,choosing a special candlestick so that you can light a candle for your baby at family occasions or whenever you wish, buying or making a special ornament or picture, having your baby’s photo re-created as a painting or a sketch, naming a star, and making a piece of cross-stitch or needlework.

Many hundreds of parents, family members and friends fundraise for Sands in memory of their babies who have died. Some parents have created personal websites for their babiesor set up an ‘In Memory Fund’ dedicated to their baby which  can raise money for Sands in their memory.