A Welsh organisation is calling for children to learn about grief and bereavement from an early age, as part of efforts to make conversations about death and loss more open
Luna’s Light CIC is developing creative, age-appropriate resources to help children understand death, express their feelings and talk more openly about grief.
The organisation was founded by Philippa Atkins, whose devastating experience of losing her baby daughter, Luna, inspired the illustrated children’s book Skye & Luna.
Philippa was able to bring Luna home from hospital, allowing her older daughter, Skye, to meet her baby sister before Luna died at just three days old.
“When you are going through the shock of potentially finding your child, it’s really really hard to find the words.”
The experience prompted Philippa to explore ways to help children understand the loss of someone they love.
“My fear is that the people who experience this will compartmentalise it as something they should feel shame about, because it is connected to something that people don’t want to talk about.”
Through Skye & Luna, Philippa hopes to show families how they can continue to honour a baby who has died.
“This book can demonstrate to other people the many many beautiful ways that you can continue to live alongside your baby.”
She said the book reflects how her own family talks openly about Luna. “My children will talk very openly about the fact they each have two sisters, and they talk completely unashamed about that… I saw that this wasn’t necessarily the norm, but it has been so crucial to us. My daughter Luna deserves to be honoured in many beautiful ways.”
Luna’s Light believes children should have the language and understanding to navigate grief before they experience bereavement themselves.
Philippa believes schools could play a greater role in helping children understand loss and giving them safe spaces to explore difficult emotions.
“It is something that should be taught in schools… when you lose someone incredibly close to you, what you learn is that grief is not a period of time… you learn that grief is something that you walk with for your whole life.”
Grief can bring a range of emotions, from sadness and confusion to happy memories and moments of joy. Luna’s Light aims to help children recognise and express these feelings in ways that are appropriate for their age.
“We want to give people an understanding of grief, grief expectation, grief literacy… but doing it whilst doing something creative.”
Philippa also highlighted the importance of creativity in helping people cope with difficult emotions.
“I find at really low periods, if you have something that you are passionate about that is creative in some sense, whether that’s singing or dancing or drawing… that is what will save you in those moments.”
As Baby Loss Awareness Week runs from 9th to 15th October, Luna’s Light hopes to encourage more open conversations about baby loss and bereavement.
“When it comes to baby loss at any point, the isolation is pretty extreme because it isn’t talked about… I appreciate how incredibly hard it is but you never know when telling your story is going to help somebody else.”
The book Skye & Luna is available in both English and Welsh. Copies are also distributed in hospitals to help families navigate grief and give children a better understanding of loss.
All donations made this week will go towards providing copies to another health board, helping more families access the book.
Donations can be made through the Skye & Luna Crowdfunder.
The book is available in Welsh and English through the Skye & Luna Etsy shop.
You can follow Luna’s Light on Instagram at @lunaslightappeal.
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