From little things ...

In 1990 Darwin offered very little in the way of support for parents and families who experienced the loss of a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death or the loss of a child through any other tragedy. Local midwife Mo Davy believed that families in this situation could benefit from contact with others who had experienced a similar loss, and Cradle's first meeting was held in Mo's lounge room with three recently bereaved mums over a cup of coffee and amidst a lot of tears and fears.

... Big things grow

Since then Cradle has continued to offer self-help support meetings, allowing bereaved families to come together and share their stories in an environment of mutual support and understanding. Additionally, we have expanded our services to include loss and grief education, advocacy, and the continued promotion of greater awareness of early pregnancy, infant and child loss.

Into the future

On Thursday, 16 October 2008, Cradle members and supporters gathered to celebrate the launch of our book The Cradle of Shared Understanding: the story so far of Cradle NT Inc. Written and compiled by Gretchen Ennis with help and support from Mo Davy, the Cradle committee and members, the book looks at Cradle's activities and accomplishments to date in order to inform our future directions. Possibilities for the future include, but are not limited to:the expansion of Cradle's advocacy role to include regular information sessions for medical and allied health professionals,increased internet presence through the modification and expansion of the Cradle website,a broadening of services to include support for parents facing difficult decisions as the result of prenatal diagnosis, andamalgamation or affiliation with other similar organisations.

We welcome your feedback as we move into the future together.