Did you know 1 in 4 families experience miscarriage, stillbirth or infant loss on their family building journeys?
Join us as we celebrate the launch of our expanded Bedside Perinatal Bereavement Program, offer resources and support to loss families and gather to light a candle to participate in the Wave of Light in memory of babies gone too soon.
Our event is free to attend thanks to Cooper University Hospital! Attendees will receive a personalized memorial candle, sweet treats, connection with others walking similar journeys, and resources and participate in a candle lighting ceremony at Cooper’s beautiful healing garden.
The event is free, but you must register to attend by October 4th! Please click here to register. There are options for families to make sponsorship donations in their baby's names.
We will be making a formal presentation of our gift to Cooper Hospital, thanks to the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, with the expansion of our Bedside Perinatal Bereavement Program. You can help us increase our financial gift to families through several registration options!
Event FAQ's
Each year, Three Little Birds hosts our memorial event for perinatal loss families in honor of pregnancy and infant loss awareness day/month to give families an opportunity to have a safe space to explore their grief, make meaningful connections with others and find creative ways to parent their baby.
Since 2018, this event has changed dramatically over the years to reflect the growing needs of our community, the volunteer support and available funding and spaces available to us to gather as we celebrate and mourn the babies we carry with us in our hearts everyday. This year, we have developed our event based on feedback from attendees and new parents in our nest looking to attend their first event. Below is an overview of questions we have received about our upcoming event:
Can children attend the Wave of Light?
Each year, we gauge our community to be sure we are being sensitive to parents and loved ones at all stages of grief. The majority of families we have surveyed have stated they prefer this event be child-free, while many others stated they wish their children could attend to participate in honoring their sibling. Additionally, the space capacity of the venue plays a role into this decision.
We understand both stances, so to compromise, we have elected to host our Wave of Light event on Sunday the 13th so that families can be together privately to light their candles during the global Wave of Light. Our focus of our event is to provide resources and support for parents and adult loved ones and are working to balance our other events out to be family friendly. Therefore, our 2024 Wave of Light event is adults only.
Will dinner be served?
This year, we are opting for a more casual event for parents to mingle and connect with each other, where as in the past formal dinners required time and preparation.
Attendees at this year's event will offer a mix of sweet treats and refreshments for families to enjoy before our candle ceremony. There will be options to accommodate gluten/dairy free and/or vegan diets.
Can I order additional candles?
Each parent/couple will receive one personalized candle per baby they are remembering at our event. Please be sure to indicate their names at registration. In the event you want to order additional candles, please contact us via email at threelittlebirdsperinatal@gmail.com.
Where can we park?
Please park in Cooper University Hospital's parking garage, adjacent to the conference center. Once you park, take the elevator to the first floor and proceed up the ramp towards the hospital lobby. The entrance to the conference center is to the left of the Healing Garden, before you reach the hospital entrance. You will not need to enter the hospital to attend our event and parking is free.
What can we expect at the event?
From 5:45-6:15, Three Little Birds will be officially presenting our Bedside Perinatal Bereavement Program Gift to Cooper Hospital. This will include a brief presentation of the program and guest speakers. We will also be presenting awards to three Cooper Hospital Employees that have made a tremendous impact on families and their experience at the time of loss.
From 6-7 PM, families can mingle with other attendees, meet some of our legacy project parents, learn more about resources and providers that can support pregnancy and infant loss, as well as some upcoming virtual and in-person support events we are hosting through the end of the year.
At 6:45 PM, we will draw our door prize winner. One attendee will go home with a pair of tickets to an upcoming Philadelphia Eagles game!
From 7-7:30 PM, we will gather in the Healing Garden for a universal remembrance ceremony for the babies in our heart gone too soon. Families will have an opportunity to light their candle, say their baby's name and find comfort and support in community.
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