About Feileacain
Féileacáin is a not for profit organisation that aims to offer support to anyone affected by the death of a baby during pregnancy or shortly after.
Gifts of Remembrance
We provide maternity hospitals
with our
“Remembering……..Memory Boxes”
free of charge.
Visit our Shop
We offer a range of products including cards and bespoke jewellery, all of which we sell to raise funds for our charity.
For most families, pregnancy and the birth of a baby is a time of hope, excitement, joy and wonder. And while the majority of pregnancies start out this way, not all end so happily. Instead of the happiness of greeting a new baby, some families will be faced with the grim reality of coping with an infant death. Statistics show that in Ireland each year, over 500 babies will die around the time of birth. Each of these little babies are mourned not only by parents but also sisters, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family, neighbours and friends. Professional staff too, working in the neonatal units are also deeply affected when a baby dies.
We need your help.
Join Our
fundraising efforts
Like most charities, we depend on fundraising and donations
to keep our charity going,
if you have an idea and want to help our cause please
join us
in our fundraising efforts.
Photo Gallery
Upcoming Events
Feileacain Delivered in 2018
with your support in 2018.
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Held over Support Meetings
and workshops around the country
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Memory Boxes free
of charge to hospitals.
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Supplied Cuddle Cots
to bereaved family.
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Calls Answered
on our Support Line
Our News
Feileacain Memory Boxes: One of the most poignant services offered by Feileacain is the gift of our ‘Remembering..’ Memory Boxes to each Maternity Unit and Children’s Hospital. These Memory Boxes are given to parents whose baby has died. Contained within each of the Memory Boxes is a hand knitted blanket from the Cocooned project. These blankets are knitted with love by Feileacain volunteers around the country, and parents may choose to either wrap their baby in the blanket or perhaps lay it upon them at the time of burial. The ‘Remembering…’ Memory Boxes also contain a handmade card for parents to record their baby’s weight and other details. A high spec memory card is also included within the Memory Box for use in the Feileacain cameras (held on the ward) to ensure that parents have the opportunity to take photographs that will be precious to them in the future. Two identical teddy bears are also within the box– one that can be placed in the baby’s coffin and one retained by the parents.
Feileacain is linked in with SANDS International and is also a member of the International Stillbirth Alliance, an organisation of professionals and bereaved parents involved in researching the causes of stillbirth and dedicated to saving the lives of babies. Feileacain works closely with our maternity and neonatal units nationally and is committed to increasing awareness of stillbirth and neonatal death in Ireland.
National Standards for Bereavement Care Following Pregnancy Loss and Perinatal Death
Congratulations and well done to Anne Bergin and her hardworking team for completion of the National Standards for Bereavement care Following Pregnancy Loss and Perinatal Death, launched by the Simon Harris Minister for Health today in Farmleigh. Feileacain is delighted that appropriate care for bereaved families will be standardised throughout the country and parents can expect the same level of services regardless of where their baby is born. Feileacain will continue to support parents in any way we can, as well as the professionals who are most often the first point of contact for parents facing the loss of their child. We will continue providing our Remembering…Memory Boxes, Cuddle Cots (both within the hospital and in the community), high spec cameras and memory cards, as well as developing our ‘Impressions so Precious’ project which offers parents a set of their baby’s hand and foot print in clay. This service will be rolled out nationally over the next year. Remember also that our Play Therapy, Counselling and Social Work services are available to bereaved families free of charge. Again well done to all involved in the creation of the Standards and we look forward to their implementation.
