Sands NZ National Conference

We welcome bereaved parents and families, healthcare professionals, and anyone who has an interest in pregnancy, baby and infant loss, and grief and bereavement. We cater to all audiences and so far, at each conference, we tend to get a mix of bereaved parents and families, and professionals. We often get feedback from conference attendees that it is a special forum that encompasses both families and practitioners. A Sands conference is a place to come together to remember, learn, talk and feel supported in a place where pregnancy, baby, and infant loss is recognised and spoken of.

We invite presenters to talk about many aspects of pregnancy, baby and infant loss - that includes grief and bereavement, memory making, therapies for grieving parents and family members, and specialised topics like pathology and funerals. We also include topics such as early pregnancy loss, stillbirth, inducing a pregnancy due to congenital abnormality, perinatal palliative care, neonatal death, infant death, SIDS, and twin/multiple loss. There are sessions directed at health and caring professionals - the latest research on perinatal and infant loss, best practice for clinicians working with bereaved families, and more. 

Grief can be a roller coaster of emotions so it is common for any conference attendees to feel emotional and perhaps a little overwhelmed. The conference sessions touch on topics or experiences that are both healing and emotional, but important to discuss. We'll have a quiet reflection room that you can take a break in if you need to at any time and our Sands team are always available to talk with if you just need to unload. However, if tears come during any of the sessions or at any time, all conference attendees understand and support each other - tears, memory sharing, laughter, and all. Like our Sands support meetings, we don't expect any apologies for tears, for our tears are simply an expression of our love. 

Sands is an organisation that appreciates the importance of family, however we have two occasions where we ask that babies and children are not included - our support meetings and our conference. This is because we have many newly bereaved parents who attend our conference and the presence of babies and children can be very upsetting for them. We recognise and appreciate that it may be hard for bereaved parents to find carers for their children, and how hard it is to leave babies and children at home when you travel to and from conference. If you want to attend conference and need to bring your baby for certain reasons, please get in touch with us. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.

Yes! We'll ask in the registration for you to indicate whether you need a certificate and we'll get them out in the week following the conference (16-20 June).