Welcome to 'Lieve Engeltjes'

An angel in the book of life
wrote down an infant's birth
and mentioned as he closed the book:
".........too beautiful for earth"

You have found your way to our Internet/e-mailing group of people who have lost a baby or young child. The language of the group is Dutch, but this does not mean you have to be Dutch or live in the Netherlands to qualify to join. It does mean, however, that the members of the group can communicate in Dutch. There are various similar groups on the Internet already, but they mostly operate in English; reading and writing English is not trivial for all of us.

The name of the group loosely translates as 'Dear Little Angels'.

'Lieve Engeltjes' tries to cater for absolutely everybody (and their partners!) who has ever had a pregnancy which did not result in having the chance to raise a child as was hoped. Miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death and death in early childhood are the obvious candidates. But what about people who have had to take the endlessly difficult decision to terminate a pregnancy, for whatever medical reason? They are just as welcome as anybody else who is learning to deal with the grief caused by the loss of a child.

New members are assigned to one of our lists at random, which ensures a heterogeneous mixture of people in every group; different backgrounds, different stories, different stages of mourning and grief. This hopefully ensures a suitable sounding board for everybody.

Some situations, however, deserve slightly more specific treatment. That is why 'LE' has decided to set up separate lists for certain specific situations, and to refer to other existing mailing lists for others. 'LE' has groups for

• parents of slightly older children who have died, e.g. after a long illness or after an accident;
• parents who have had to make the heart-breaking choice to terminate a pregnancy for whatever medical reason, which really is not a choice at all...;
• grandparents of babies/children who have died;
• brothers and sisters of babies/children who have died;

and can refer people to groups for

• parents who have lost one or more babies of a multiple birth;
• parents of children who have died of cot death (SIDS), for which an LE-member has set up an international mailing list.

'LE' is often approached by people who would just like to make some sort of memorial for their child on the Internet, or by people who are interested in 'LE' in a professional capacity (gynaecologists, obstetricians, midwives, counsellors, even chaplains) rather than through personal experience. The former are welcome to build a page and have a memorial for only 35 Euro, the latter will receive an information pack, brochures, and perhaps some contact addresses of parents who are interested in their skills or helping them improve these skills.

'LE' is run by volunteers. There is no membership fee to join or to enjoy its services. However, your financial help (gifts, donations) is extremely welcome for us to be able to continue to serve you and others.

Would you like to support our work? Yes, please!

To contact us, send an email to Lieve Engeltjes. To join one of our groups, fill in the 'aanmeldformulier' on the main Dutch version of our site. There you will also find the FAQ, for more information.