CRADLE is an organisation made up of a team of national ambassadors who provide support for anyone who has been affected by early miscarriage. Here is a message from our local CRADLE Ambassador:

I'm Kay Crewdson. I'm in a club that I never wanted to join. A club where it seems that the only real thing in common is overwhelming grief. But a club that sadly gets bigger and bigger each day.

1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage and that 1 in 4 was me.

When I came out of hospital after my D&C I asked family to leave me alone and I howled on the sofa. I screamed so much that I thought neighbours would ring the police. My body ached, literally and metaphorically and the images I had created in my mind of our baby "Reg" were overwhelming.

I felt empty. Sad and empty.

That was in 2017. And now? In time we heal and we grow, that's true for me but Reg lives on through the work I do. I created a documentary in his honour to try and break the taboo of miscarriage and now I have become an Ambassador for CRADLE. Our aim? To help those going through the pain of miscarriage. To say, this is not okay, you are not alone, I am here for you. To educate others on how to help speak to those grieving and to offer ongoing support through local groups or one on one counselling.

No one can take the pain away of losing a baby, there are no right words, there is no quick fix to grief but together we can say; I know how this feels and I am here for you. You are not alone. 

One of our projects at CRADLE is the emergency comfort bag project; we donate comfort bags to bereaved parents during their hospital stays.

Many bereaved parents find themselves being admitted to hospital during an emergency, unexpectedly rushed in without any home comforts or basic essentials and that is what we want to change, alongside offering information about our monthly support groups and other local support finding services.

So with the help of local and national communities we hope to create little bags of help, little bags of love, little bags of support. Just a little way to say to you, we care. You are not alone.

A donation box is available at Busy Bees Nursery on Leyton Road. 

If you have experienced early pregnancy loss and need support, or know someone who has, there is a private CRADLE Facebook peer support group.