Sad news.

Today I checked my emails and found a prayer request Don our church leader. We often get asked to pray for people in the church and friends and family but this one was a huge shock. Remember the post about the dedication, well during that event I was talking to a lovely family who had a little baby who 5-6 weeks old. They were all talking about the confusing advise peopel give you when u've had a baby so I was trying to reassure them that they should listen to everyting and choose the most appropriate things that suit their own family. The couple I was talking to were really lovely and their baby was beautiful. Well sadly the prayer request is because this beautiful little baby boy had died this week, of unknown causes. Imagine my shock, it really did give me goosebumps and indraw of breath.
As a nurse you expect to see and experience death, but when it happens to someone you have known or met it really brings home how brief and finite life is. As a NICU nurse many years ago I was actually the bereavement link nurse so spent alot of time working hard to ensure any parents and their family had as much support as possible if their baby was dying or had died. I can remember many times staying on at work to support parents, especially if their was so little time between the baby's birth and death.
Only this week, the support agency SANDS reported that there are insufficient support services for parents going through this experience. I truly hope and pray that this family get it. I have offered what support I can if they should wish it. I'm sure I will not be asked as I only met them for such a brief time however I feel that not offering is like preventing them from having that chance.
Anyway, if you have the chance to put this family on your prayer list I would really be grateful. I will be praying that thye find a way to work through their grief and that they have that support so inportant for them to heal.
Thankyou......