We are very pleased to be partners in Saying Goodbye, a series
of commemorative events being held for people who have lost a baby in pregnancy or at or soon after birth.  You’ll find the services – and the reason behind them – highlighted in the Guardian’s Family section of 12 May 2012 (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/may/12/miscarriage-saying-goodbye-services?INTCMP=SRCH)

Organised by events company CCEM, whose directors have personal experience of miscarriage, the Saying Goodbye events will be held in some very special locations:

Exeter Cathedral, on Saturday 15th September

St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh, on Saturday 22nd September

York Minster, on Saturday 29th September

Birmingham Cathedral, on Sunday 28th October

LLandaff Cathedral, Cardiff, on Saturday 3rd November

St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London, on Saturday 17th November

St Paul’s Cathedral, London, on Saturday 24th November

Bristol Cathedral, on Saturday 8th December

For more information please visit the Saying Goodbye website: www.sayinggoodbye.org

We welcome people who wish to join our team of sponsored runners in the London Marathon. You can apply for a ballot place at www.virginlondonmarathon.com – registration opens in the early hours of Monday 30 May 2012, and is likely to close within 24 hours, so try early!

But you might also like to apply for one of our charity places, by going to www.crunch.org.uk/ma as Neil did.  We really look forward to welcoming you to our team!

Many thanks and warm congratulations to all 32 members of our London Marathon team, who ran 26.2 miles on 22 April to raise funds for the Miscarriage Association.

Whether it took you 3 hours or well over 7, your determination and commitment are fantastic and we really appreciate all the months of hard work that got you to the finish line.  What’s more, every one of you has raised awareness of the sadness of miscarriage and of the Miscarriage Association as a source of support.  So wear those medals with pride!

Our sincere apologies to anyone who has emailed the M.A. over the last few days and had an auto reponse saying that our mailbox is full.  The systems should be back to normal today, but in the mean time, we aren’t able to recover those messages.  We do hope you will try again.

We’d like to know what YOU think.

The Miscarriage Association and the Association of Early Pregnancy Units invite you to take part in our brief online survey to help us find a new name for the term ERPC – the surgical evacuation of retained products of conception.

We know that many women and their partners find this term upsetting and confusing, especially at an already distressing time.  We think it is time to change it to one which is plain English, medically accurate and acceptable to a wide range of patients.

Online organisation Mumsnet has suggested the term “Surgical completion of miscarriage”.

The Association of Early Pregnancy Units and the Miscarriage Association have made two further suggestions of “Surgical removal of miscarriage” and “Surgical treatment of miscarriage”.

You may have other suggestions.

Whether you have professional or personal experience of miscarriage (or both), please tell us what you think by completing our survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/maerpc01

The survey will be on line from 21 March to 21 April 2012.

We have just 2 charity places left for Nightrider™ on 9-10 June. A 100k moonlit ride past some of London’s most famous landmarks, it’s one of the most sought after cycling events of the year.  Imagine cycling across Tower Bridge, through a deserted City of London and Canary Wharf, past London Zoo, Piccadilly Circus and more.

If you’d like to take part and raise funds for the Miscarriage Association at the same time, please visit http://www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk/get-involved/help-us-raise-funds/nightrider/ or you can sign up direct at https://regonline.activeeurope.com?eventID=1001001&rTypeID=57403

Thanks.

A number of cathedrals around the UK will be holding special remembrance services later this year. The Saying Goodbye services will mark the brief lives of babies lost through miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or molar pregnancy.

The services are being organised by Zoe and Andy Clark-Coates, through their events company CCEM (www.ccem.co.uk) in partnership with the Miscarriage Association.

Zoe and Andy experienced many miscarriages themselves and Zoe notes:

“I never want to forget my babies, and what I can do is make a lasting legacy in honour of their short lives. I want these services to help other couples to say a wonderful goodbye to their children, as every life deserves to be recognised”.

Service dates and venues are being finalised in March and there will be more details here and at www.sayinggoodbye.org in the next few weeks.

Charity news bulletin “Third Sector” reports that the online fundraising site JustGiving has today launched a new initiative that enables people to raise money for charity in memory of people who have died.

They note:

“JustGiving In Memory allows the user to create a page that accepts donations in memory of a person and can tell the dead person’s story, using pictures if they wish. Fundraising pages for events can also now be designated as In Memory as well.”

It is probably fair to say that almost all of the fundraising pages set up on the Miscarriage Association’s JustGiving pages (www.justgiving.com/miscarriage), whether for an event or simply to fundraise, mark the brief lives of babies lost in pregnancy.

There may be photos of runners, cyclists, walkers and swimmers – but there are also those of a scan picture, or a flower, or perhaps a memorial tree.  These remembered lives may have been brief, but
their stories and meaning are real and powerful.

We are sometimes asked about remembrance jewellery, something that might be worn in memory of a baby lost in pregnancy.  We are delighted that artist and jeweller Lisa Matthews has created a special range of delicate freshwater pearl and crystal jewellery that serves just this purpose.

You can see the range at www.lisamatthewsjewellery.co.uk. If you use the code THEMA when ordering, your postage and packing will be free and Lisa will donate 10% of the purchase price to the Miscarriage Association.