Teardrop support group
SUPPORTING FAMILIES WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED THE DEATH OF A BABY THROUGH MISCARRIAGE, STILLBIRTH, NEONATAL DEATH OR TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY DUE TO FETAL ABNORMALITY
Welcome to the Teardrop Support Group Website. We are sorry you have found a need to be here.
Teardrop is a voluntary organisation under the auspices of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. It is affiliated to SANDS (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society) and supports bereaved parents and relatives of babies who have been lost through miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death or termination of pregnancy because of fetal abnormality.
Teardrop which is run by volunteers and financed on a charity basis was started in 1992 by midwives at the old Ashington Maternity Unit with the aim of better equipping staff with the skills to enable them to support anyone having experienced the death of a baby. Teardrop is involved in a variety of areas which include staff training, the installation of special facilities for grieving families and provisions of equipment to help make memories. Teardrop also manages a special book of remembrance, the Teardrop Tree in the hospital chapel and has two annual memorial service to support families.
A wide geographical area is covered which extends to cover the whole of Northumberland and North Tyneside. Offer of support is given to all those who lose a baby and this amounts to very significant numbers over the years.
Through extensive fundraising and with the support of the Trust Charity Development Group, in 2003 a special garden was installed at the Wansbeck General Hospital in Ashington. The garden is situated in one of the closed courtyards off the main corridor at Wansbeck Hospital. It is the result of years of planning and was installed entirely from fundraising from charitable donations. It is a place of beauty, a quiet garden where anyone who is grieving or in need of tranquility, may come and sit for a while. Teardrop fund the ongoing maintenance of the garden.
In 1995 the Ashington Support Group was launched for grieving parents and relatives who have lost a baby. The Ashington group meets monthly at a local high school and its aim is to bring together people who have had similar losses, with a view to helping them through the grief process. In 2010 another group was formed at North Shields and this group usually meets on the alternate fortnight to the Ashington group. The support group meetings tend to be small and informal and some members come for a short period of time while others attend for many months and there are, in fact, some who find reassurance in attending throughout a subsequent pregnancy. In 2016 the Rainbow club was set up meeting in Cramlington which allows families to attend with their children or to discuss subsequent pregnancy questions or fears. The Groups also have trained Befrienders who offer support between meetings.
Teardrop is involved in many areas associated with bereavement as outlined above and we welcome all enquiries. If further information is required then please contact us via the phone or email details at the bottom of the page.