OUR STORY
Who We Are
Empty Cradle is a nonprofit, peer-led organization dedicated to supporting parents who have experienced the loss of a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth, TFMR, infant death, SIDS, or SUID. We provide compassionate support, meaningful connections, and practical resources to families throughout Southern California and beyond.
Losing a baby is one of life's most devastating experiences. The grief can feel overwhelming, isolating, and difficult for others to understand. At Empty Cradle, no one has to face that journey alone.
Our volunteers are all bereaved parents who understand the unique pain of pregnancy and infant loss. While we are not a counseling service, we offer something equally valuable—the understanding that comes from shared experience. Through peer support, remembrance, education, and community, we help families find connection, hope, and reassurance as they navigate their grief.
Our programs include peer support meetings, remembrance events, memory boxes and care packages for newly bereaved families, educational resources, and partnerships with healthcare professionals to improve bereavement care.
Whether your loss was recent or many years ago, you are welcome here.
Our History & Mission
Empty Cradle was founded in January 1982 by three San Diego families who experienced the devastating loss of their own babies. At a time when few resources existed for grieving parents, they recognized the need for a place where families could find understanding, compassion, and hope.
What began as a single monthly support meeting and a small newsletter has grown into a volunteer-led nonprofit serving families throughout Southern California. Today, Empty Cradle offers multiple in-person and virtual peer support meetings each month, remembrance events, hospital memory box and memory cart programs, educational opportunities for healthcare professionals, financial assistance for qualifying families, and a wide range of bereavement resources.
For more than four decades, our volunteers have remained committed to supporting families while working to improve the care and understanding surrounding pregnancy and infant loss within our communities.
As a 100% volunteer-run nonprofit, we rely entirely on the generosity of donors, volunteers, and community partners to continue providing all of our services free of charge.
Our Mission
To comfort the grief of an aching heart and ease the pain of an empty cradle.