Grief, in its many forms, is one of the most painful experiences that anyone can suffer, and every year it is experienced by thousands of families in the UK.
 
Professionals should be able to recognise and respond appropriately to bereaved families' varied emotional needs when a child dies or when children are bereaved of someone important in their life. The numbers of families affected are significant : -

• Every year in the UK over 20,000 children under the age of 18 experience the death of a parent – that is around 60 children and young people bereaved of a mother or father every day
• 1 in 29 schoolchildren has been bereaved of a parent or sibling, and 1 in 16 is grieving the death of a close friend
• Each year almost 3000 children and young people die between the ages of 1 and 19 as a result of illness or accident – that is 8 children per day
• Every year nearly 4000 babies are stillborn and another 2500 die within 4 weeks of birth. That equates to 1 baby in 100 dying before, at, or soon after birth – that is 17 babies each day
• A further 1200 babies die before reaching their first birthday
• 1 in 4 pregnancies ends in miscarriage
• Each year, around 6000 families are bereaved by suicide

While so different, these experiences involve strong feelings of loss, and the bereaved all deserve appropriate support.