Retreat announcement

Babylost Mama Retreat
Ocean City, New Jersey

November 20-22, 2009

Ever dream of a weekend around women who just get it? Connect with a group of women have recently lost a baby just before or after birth. Though we are just women brought together by our grief, we have found a community of friends. Together, we have organized a grassroots retreat for healing, listening, sharing, connecting, and relaxing.

There are no counselors or leaders for this retreat—just women in mourning. Our retreat will be held Friday evening through Sunday, November 20th-22nd, in Ocean City, New Jersey. We have reserved a large gorgeous Victorian. Ocean City is located about an hour and fifteen minutes from Philadelphia and two and half hours from New York City. If you fly into Philadelphia or Newark, let us know what your flight schedule looks like and Angie or Molly will try to arrange a time to pick you up and drive you to the house.

ITINERARY: We have scheduled a loose itinerary for our weekend, though participants are asked to sign up to help with meals and food costs. Each meal will be “hosted” by one or two participants who will share costs and planning for that meal.

Arrival Friday afternoon and evening.
Friday night dinner is followed by candle lighting, welcome and story sharing.
Saturday morning will be a day of activity and relaxation.
Breakfast is followed by a craft time. No artistic abilities are needed.
Lunch will be followed by afternoon lounging/naps and massage. Evening finds us with a relaxing dinner and more story sharing.
Sunday morning begins with yoga, followed by brunch. And our goodbyes.

WHO: This retreat is for any women who have recently lost an infant before or after birth (stillbirth, infant death). It is organized by babylost mamas Angie Y. of still life with circles and Molly of the Unlucky Lottery. It is not affiliated in any way with any official corporate or non-profit group or religion. One thing to note is that a number of the attendees are pregnant, or trying to conceive.

COST: The price is $150 per person. This includes two nights accommodations. Meals and drinks are not included. We are sharing costs of meals; thus, you will be asked to contribute creatively, monetarily and labor-wise to one meal for the group. If you are flying into the retreat, arrangements will be made with you about the meal portion.

Optional extras (prices not yet set, but will be emailed later):
Massage. We are organizing a time to visit a salon with prenatal massage, massage, facials, and other spa treatments. This is optional, and prices are based on salon-set prices.


JOIN US: We have limited space. We are keeping this group relatively small, and participants will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. For questions, I would be happy to answer via email at uberangie (at) gmail (dot) com.

My deepest apologies to Monica for ripping off her format (and some of her sentences), but it worked really well for communicating the information. AND thank you for giving us the inspiration to organize our own East Coast retreat when we were ruing not being able to attend the West Coast retreat. Thank you, Monica.