Mothers of Held Angels, founded in Houston, supports moms experiencing loss
Mothers of Held Angels (MOHA) is a non-profit organization that lends love and support to grieving mothers who lost their baby while pregnant.
MOHA was founded by three women in Houston who experienced the tremendous loss of their babies, which made them realize the need to help moms immediately in the hospital.
MOHA offers comprehensive bereavement care in hospitals to help families create lasting memories with their deceased child.
Ongoing resources are available through initiatives like the support group "Coffee and Conversations" and a podcast of that same name.
Three loving mothers created Mothers of Held Angels, known as MOHA. They're a lifeline, uniting with other moms after the loss of their beloved babies.
They each suffered their own loss and came together to make sure others aren't alone, not only in the hospital, but for months and years to come, as they work through their grief.
What they're saying
"We grew very organically. We would talk about things and put them into play, and God just kind of gave us this beautiful direction to move forward, because all the ideas that came together have just come together very naturally," explains one of the Co-Founders, Brittany Kemp.
Local perspective
The organization has been training other mothers who've lost their babies to sit with families in their hospital rooms and walk them through the process. They've been teaming up with hospitals in Houston to do this and have helped countless families work through their pain.
"We developed what we call the MOHA angel experience. We believe that there needs to be a standard of care within the hospital system, any hospital where a woman is going to deliver a child at a deceased child. She deserves our angel experience! We believe that we are going to give the bereaved family the gift of time via a device called the CuddleCot. It's a device that the baby is going to sit on to cool the baby down, and that allows families the gift of time to spend with them. Within that time, we believe that they need to create healthy memories with their child while they're in the hospital. Most people don't realize that the only time we're going to get with our deceased child is the day or two that we're going to spend with them while we're physically with them. We're going to go home, unfortunately, with paperwork and not a child, and they're going to go to the funeral home. So, we want to create those memories with that child," explains Brittany.
Big picture view
These women want to help grieving moms normalize their experience. MOHA envisions a world where grieving mothers receive immediate and compassionate support, with hospitals equipped to provide necessary resources and care. They're trying to add their services to even more hospitals.
Here's an idea of advice they share with mourning mothers.
"Do not be afraid to talk about your baby, use your baby's name. I always say Lillian's name, from the moment I got home from the hospital. If you didn't have the support while you were in the hospital, and you walked away empty, you start building those memories the moment you get home. So, whether that's setting up traditions on how you remember them during Christmas, Halloween, or Easter. How do you want to go visit your baby at the cemetery, if you chose to bury them in a cemetery? All of those steps can build healthy memories if you didn't get to make them in the hospital," states Anna Noto.
Brittany Kemp has two sons and an angel daughter, Eden.
Hollyn Keith has two children and angel son, Carter.
Anna Noto has four children and angel daughter, Lillian.
Timeline
In the summer of 2021, the founders met and shared their stories, realizing the need for a support system. In October of that year, MOHA officially became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Why you should care
MOHA provides essential emotional support and resources to families experiencing the loss of a child, helping them create positive memories during a traumatic time.
The organization requires a lot of supplies to give families, so they rely on community support to continue their mission.
"When we formed our mission, we knew we were going to need funds, and our very first fundraiser, we saw that International Bereaved Mother's Day was coming up, and we thought there's no better time than to honor our moms of loss and those who are raising money, than by holding it on such a significant weekend. So, International Bereaved Mother's Day is recognized around the world, and it is the Sunday before actual Mother's Day. It's an opportunity to shed light on devastation and of losing your baby and then honoring those moms, because they're moms too! They might not have a baby in their arms to show for it, but they are moms, and so we hold our annual biggest fundraiser now every year on the weekend or week before International Bereaved Mother's Day," says Hollyn.
What you can do
If you would like to support their cause, you can participate in their upcoming fundraiser or donate.
Their annual gala will be Friday, May 2 at the Westin Memorial City Hotel.
"Yes, we have such a wonderful outpouring of love and support from our community. That is one thing that we all agree that if we ask for help, they come running. Which is such a beautiful testament to the people who are involved in our organization. We always need help delivering our angel boxes to our partner campuses, and we also need help putting those boxes together that each family that has experienced a loss will receive," says Brittany.
Grieving mothers can attend their monthly support group, "Coffee and Conversations".
"We meet the third Thursday of every month at a local coffee shop that is actually closed to the public at the time. It's only open to us, and we go around the room, share our highs and lows and the things that we are facing as moms of loss. I tell the women every month that I live for that night, it's kind of like a lost mom's night out, if you will. We cry. We laugh. Sometimes, we have different projects that we work on with our hands," explains Hollyn.
They also have a podcast called "Coffee and Conversations". The point is to reach grieving moms everywhere. Their friend, Ashely Monroe hosts it on Spotify.
"We wanted to also provide support outside of the Houston area, so we created the podcast. The first season of the podcast is very raw. It is us talking directly to those families who are walking this journey and just now finding out about their loss. We call it our "day of loss resources" so that they can listen to it, and they can hear the things that we did in the hospital with our baby. It's almost a guide map, if you will, of your days in the hospital with your deceased child. Then we share our own stories so that those families can relate to what they're going through and know that they're not alone," says Hollyn.
Dig deeper
You can find more information at: https://www.mohanetwork.org
The Source
FOX 26's Medical Reporter and Morning Anchor Melissa Wilson gathered this information by interviewing the three founders of the organization.
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