Programs

Bereavement Support Circles

Grief can be extraordinarily isolating. Our support circles create an intimate, facilitated space where bereaved parents, partners, grandparents, and loved ones can come together without having to explain themselves. A space where your baby’s name is said aloud, welcomed, and remembered.

Partners and family members grieve differently — and that is normal. Our circles honor the full range of grief expressions. There is no pressure to speak. There is no correct way to show up. You are welcome here exactly as you are.

• Facilitated by trained bereavement support leaders
• Held monthly in Asheville and surrounding communities
• Open to all who have experienced perinatal or infant loss
• Inclusive of mothers, birthing people, partners, grandparents, and other loved ones

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Individual Therapy & Mental Health Referrals

Sometimes, the grief of losing a baby requires one-on-one support from a trained professional. Not because grief is a disorder, but because it can become so heavy that it affects every area of life — the ability to work, to parent, to sleep, to feel safe in your own body.

We maintain a network of perinatal grief therapists, trauma-informed counselors, and clinicians who understand the specific complexity of this loss. We help families find the right fit, understand their insurance coverage, and access care even when the system makes it hard.

 Request a Referral

Pregnancy After Loss (PAL) Support

A pregnancy after loss is not simply a new beginning. It carries the weight of what came before — fear, hypervigilance, love, grief, and hope all woven together. Many parents describe feeling torn between the baby they lost and the baby they are carrying.

Our PAL program offers a gentle, evidence-informed space for families navigating this complex emotional terrain. We do not ask you to set aside your grief to make room for hope. We hold both.

 Join the PAL Group

Remembrance Events & Community Rituals

There is no single right way to say goodbye to your baby. And saying goodbye is rarely a single moment — it is a series of moments, over time, some planned and some unexpected. Our remembrance events create intentional, sacred spaces for families to honor their babies and find community in their loss.

• Annual Infant Loss Awareness Week — Light & Love Gathering (October)
• Wave of Light ceremony (October 15th — International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day)
• Seasonal candlelight memorial services
• Creative memory-making workshops — handprints, footprints, memory boxes, written tributes

Memory-making is not just for right after a loss. Families can honor their baby at any time — even years later. We are here for all of it.

 View Upcoming Events

Provider Education & Bereavement Training

Many families tell us that the care they received at the hospital, clinic, or provider’s office made their experience of loss harder, not easier. Not because providers didn’t care, but because they didn’t know how. Perinatal bereavement care is not consistently taught in medical or nursing education — and families pay the price for that gap.

Embrace Foundation offers evidence-based bereavement training to clinical teams, community organizations, doulas, social workers, and individual providers across Western North Carolina.

• Trauma-informed communication with bereaved families
• Understanding the full spectrum of perinatal loss — including miscarriage, stillbirth, TFMR, and infant death
• Supporting partners, grandparents, and siblings — the often-invisible grievers
• Creating grief-literate care environments
• Connecting families to community resources at the point of loss

Training is available in half-day and full-day formats. We also distribute the Guiding Conversations guide — a nationally recognized, evidence-based resource for families — as part of our provider and family support work.

 Schedule Training