MEDINA - Waite and Son Funeral Homes hosted its second annual Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Ceremony on Thursday.
This year's event was virtual and livestreamed through Waite and Son's Facebook page, reaching both local families and families as far away as Hawaii, honoring the lives of 39 babies.
Officials said because pregnancy and infant loss is not something society feels comfortable discussing, it is important to break the silence and commemorate the lives lost.
The keynote message was delivered by Sarah Longfield, co-founder of the CAL Foundation. Longfield, with her husband, Chad, began the CAL Foundation in honor of their son, Caleb, who was stillborn in 2015. The foundation's mission is to financially support parents of stillborn babies through the payment of medical bills related to labor and delivery.
Additional speakers for the evening included Dr. Anita Bellante, OB/GYN with Southwest General Medical Group-Medina, and Kristy Jones, therapist at Integrative Counseling Services. They spoke on the shared grief between provider and patient and healing.
Each year in the United States on Oct. 15, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is observed as a day of remembrance for pregnancy and infant loss including miscarriage, still birth, SIDS or the death of a newborn.
"One of the greatest fears of a bereaved parent is that their child will be forgotten," Kelly Poole, director of community engagement for Waite and Son Funeral Homes, said in a statement. "It is our privilege to remember these children and hold space for the families who love them."
The event can be viewed on Facebook.