For bereavement midwives and baby loss charities

The Pages of Hope Project

I'm Lisa and I created A place in my heart, Baby Memorial Grief Journal with the wonderful support of bereavement midwife, Kelly Harris. I've created this page to tell you about The Pages of Hope Project and a little more about my baby memorial grief journals and how they came to be.

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About me snapshot
Baby memorial journal contents
Pages of Hope Project 15
Charity branding
Contact form

A brief snapshot about me

The journals don't mention my story at all (for reasons stated further on), but I understand you'll want to find out a little more about me and why I came to create these journals to help bereaved parents.

Why I feel so passionately about these journals
Writing has helped me so much over the years with my grief after losing my baby. I would love for others who are struggling to be able to untangle, release, find comfort or even just a moment's peace in their grief. Writing can help to solidify the realisations that hit us whilst grieving and to make conscious decisions to reach for something helpful on the worst days, rather than subconsciously reaching for things that end up bringing us more pain.

Here's a snapshot timeline about me to scroll across and the relevant experiences that have culminated to create the journals. You can read the full story behind them here.

2006

We hear the devastating words "I'm so sorry, there's no heartbeat" for our firstborn baby. Our worlds change forever and we begin our lifelong journey of grief.

2007

I set up a website blogging, and creating keepsake gifts for bereaved parents who have also lost a baby. At the time, no UK website dedicated to baby loss gifts exists.

2013 - 2018

I begin a local peer to peer support group for bereaved parents. Myself and others work together, fundraise and provide resources to hospitals for bereaved parents.

2014

Drawing on my previously unknown creative streak, I start a Graphic Design course to make a complete change in my career (previously a Family Mediator).

2018 - 2020

I work for a pregnancy safety charity with a focus on working with previously bereaved parents, midwives and expectant parents to help save future babies' lives.

2019

At the end of 2019, I burn out. I step away from all things baby loss related for a while, as the anniversary this year hits me harder than ever and I realise I'm not coping well.

2020 - 2022

I reflect on my burnout, my grief and set to re-building my life in a way that helps me to carry and honour my grief in a much healthier way and having gratitude for all I have.

2023

I set up my business with a focus on writing for self-care. It naturally falls towards helping with grief. I reflect on my grief journey and design my first guided journal for grief.

2024

Bereavement midwife Kelly Harris contacts me about my grief journals. With Kelly's support and encouragement, I design a baby memorial version of my grief journal.

2025

The Pages of Hope Project is launched and together, we work towards making the grief journals available for anyone who might find comfort in writing for grief.

What the baby loss journals contain and why there are no stories

You can find out what's inside the journals below and take a peek of some sample pages via a digital flip book too.

I do not share mine or anyone else's story within the journals, just a couple of experiences purely for context. There are a couple of reasons for this:

  1. There are already lots of wonderful resources already out there of people sharing their stories and precious babies.
  2. I know from being a part of the baby loss community just how tough parents can be on themselves. Sharing stories can be really amazing and reassuring in helping others to feel less alone; but I think sometimes they can also make us feel even more alone. If I shared my detailed story, it might make those who have had a different type of loss at a different trimester feel like perhaps this journal wasn't meant for them.

It is. The journals are self-led for anyone who has lost a precious baby under any circumstances and would like to explore their own individual grief through writing ❤️

Letters to my baby
With self-led writing prompts, giving a safe space to explore feelings and keep a connection.
Memories of you
A place to record precious memories with inspiration to continue honouring their memory.
Wellness checks
Nestled throughout to help identify the times when some extra self-care and support are needed.
Grief affirmations
To give hope that even the darkest days eventually pass and affirming that their love can never die.
Self-care toolbox
To little by little discover and record individual self-care tools, making them so much easier to reach for on the really bad days.
Conversations
Preparing for and coping with conversations about the loss of a baby and finding ways to gradually build healthy boundaries.
Relationships
A place to appreciate that grieving differently doesn't mean less or more, but also acknowledging just how lonely this can be.
Release pages
For the days when only a good rant will do and for the release of difficult feelings (e.g jealousy) that can appear unexpectedly.

More info and sample pages

The Pages of Hope Project

As these baby memorial journals were inspired with the support of a wonderful bereavement midwife, I would love for them to become a comforting bereavement suite resource to be given to bereaved parents (those who would like one) to take away as they begin to gradually navigate their grief and this is where the Pages of Hope Project stems from.

"The Pages of Hope Project’s aim is for the baby memorial journals to be available to bereaved parents as gifts from their local bereavement suites, or charity support groups as an ongoing self-care tool to help cope with grief."

Perhaps you already have a charitable fund for your maternity bereavement suite to provide beneficial resources for bereaved parents or maybe you have a family in your care looking to do something in memory of their baby.

  • I have donated...

    ...15 baby memorial grief journals to the bereavement suite of the local hospital who cared for us when we lost our baby. I will continue to donate them on an ongoing basis.

  • You can fundraise...

    ... to provide baby memorial journals to help bereaved parents in your care, whether that's for your local bereavement suite, or your charity group offering support.

Fundraising for the baby memorial journals

  • If you already have funds that have been raised

    To provide our baby memorial journals to bereaved parents in your care, you can purchase a box of 15 books, pens and pen pouches for £280. This includes a 15% discount from the standard price and a small amount towards P&P.

  • Raising funds for a batch of journals

    Your team/group can raise funds to provide journals for bereaved parents in your care. You can do this any way you would like; whether that be taking on personal challenges, holding an event like a bake off or simply having a collection.

  • For families raising funds for you, in memory

    It may be that a parent who has received a journal reaches out to you to see if they can provide the journals to other bereaved parents in your care. You can refer families who are raising funds for you to this page here.

Branding

The journals themselves are already printed, however charities are free to add some complimentary branding to ensure bereaved parents find their way back to them for support. This could be by way of packaging, an inside stamp print of your logo, a bookmark with charity details on or a donated by xxx card to name but a few ideas.

FAQ's

Is The Self-care Journal co. a non profit organisation?

No, but it is a small business with a strong sense of purpose.

I'm a one woman band who has chosen to combine my professional skills and personal experiences to set up my business to inspire/help others as my full time job.

The Pages of Hope project is in memory of our beautiful baby.