Infant Fund
The Smallest Coffins Are the Heaviest to Bear ♡
To lose a child is a trauma that affects parents and siblings, but it also impacts the close ones around them. To get through such an unimaginable event, it is essential to receive support from loved ones and also from someone who knows how it feels. The smallest coffins are the heaviest to bear. That is why we at Plume choose to donate money to the Spädbarnsfonden. They hold a special place in our hearts ♡
Spädbarnsfonden supports families who have lost young children during pregnancy, at birth, or within the first year of life. No child should have to die, and no parents or relatives should have to suffer the lifelong grief that follows. Each year, approximately 600 infants die. To put that in perspective, 600 infants are as many as the players in about 60 football teams. This is 60 football teams too many, 600 infants too many.
No parents should have to learn to survive without their children. Children should outlive their parents. Losing a child is a great trauma that affects the entire family and the people around them. It affects siblings, friends, and loved ones.
When faced with such a great and unimaginable grief, the support one receives is a significant help in the healing process. Talking about one's grief and allowing oneself to remember and feel is an important part of the process of returning to life again. One needs to be met with understanding, warmth, and recognition. One needs to know that all the thoughts swirling around are completely normal. The support received at this stage of the grief process is so crucial that if parents do not receive good support and care, there is a high risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or prolonged grief disorder (PGD).
To ensure that everyone going through such a trauma has the opportunity to receive the right support, Spädbarnsfonden provides various support interventions for families who have lost a child. All volunteers and support persons working there have themselves lost children. They are driven by helping others to come out on the other side, and it often helps the affected person just to talk to someone with similar experiences.
More Research Needed
Spädbarnsfonden contributes to research on infant mortality and works to reduce or hopefully eliminate the death rates entirely. Sometimes there are natural causes why infants do not survive, but often the reasons are unknown. More research is needed, and therefore it is of utmost importance that we continue to support research in any way we can.
For every Postpartum Box sold, we donate 5 SEK to their fund. Thank you for contributing:
If you have lost a child or want to read more about Spädbarnsfonden and their work, more information is available on their website spädbarnsfonden.se. If you want to get in touch with others going through the same thing, there are several forums for this, including groups on Facebook.
I, Katja, who founded Plume, have myself lost a child. I know the immense grief it is and the darkness one gropes in. No one can do your grief work for you, but perhaps we at Plume can at least help you a little bit along the way. Therefore, we have put together some tips for those who have lost a child but also for those who are relatives of someone carrying this grief.
If you want to read my story about when I lost my child, you can read it here: How I Lost My Child.