FAMILIES who have experienced the loss of a baby will take part in a memorial service early next month.
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Port Macquarie couple Angela and Steve McWhirter will remember their firstborn, Madeline, during the Blessing of the Angels service on December 2.
They lost Madeline during her birth.
“You never forget,” Mrs McWhirter said. “Every day you think of your child but we just make it [the service] more something to look forward to.”
Blessing of the Angels has become a family event with the couple’s sons Harrison, 9, Hamish, 7, and five-year-old Flynn attending, too.
Mrs McWhirter said the Blessing of the Angels service was a special day.
“It’s very emotional but at the same time it’s fulfilling,” she said.
The couple encourages parents and other family members who have experienced the loss of a baby to come along to the service.
“I think people need to be aware it can help and it can lessen the pain a little bit,” Mrs McWhirter said.
“You have that special occasion to remember.”
Her husband agrees. “People there have been through a similar experience and you can talk freely to people about what has happened,” he said.
The annual service is open to anyone who has lost a baby through miscarriage, birth or shortly after birth.
People are encouraged to bring a present in memory of their child with the gifts donated to the Salvation Army’s Christmas appeal. The service will be at the St Thomas’ Anglican Church with the assistance of Port Macquarie Base Hospital chaplain Leanne Smith at 11.30am on December 2. The angels’ names are called during the service and each family lights a candle in their child’s name.
If you would like any further information about the service or the group, call Martie Kuhn on 0413 596 903.