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By Abigail Kinney, Communications Intern
The nonprofit donates teddy bears to grieving parents, offering a tangible source of comfort and support after pregnancy loss.
Founder Taylor Prelac started the nonprofit after experiencing a miscarriage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Isolated in the hospital, without the comfort of her husband or family, she described the moment as one of the loneliest of her life.
“No one could touch me, no one could hug me, no one could hold my hand,” Prelac said. “It was truly awful.”
After her loss, her grandmother sent her a teddy bear. It is around 16 inches tall, with weighted paws and a reversible pink and blue silk ribbon around its neck—the same bear she now gives to grieving mothers.
“It helped me at night just to hold something and grieve,” she said. “I would sit on the couch, hold it and cry.”
That meaningful gesture became the inspiration for Brooks' Bereavement Bears, named after her rainbow baby, Brooks.
Since launching in 2022, Brooks' Bereavement Bears has donated around 1,100 bears to 11 hospitals and OBGYN centers across the region, including Aultman Hospital and Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital. A new partnership with University Hospitals now provides 20 bears each month to their labor and delivery units.
The bears often comfort not just grieving parents, but their whole families.
“A mom had lost a 37-week-old, almost full-term baby and was devastated,” Prelac said. “Her little kids got a hold of the bear and said I'm going to sleep with [the baby's name] tonight, and then they took turns sleeping with it. The mom was touched. She called me in tears—it really impacted her and her children.”
According to Orlando Health, one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage. July is nationally recognized as Bereaved Parents Awareness Month, a time dedicated to honoring parents who have experienced the loss of a child.
“I get messages all the time saying how much comfort these bears have brought these women,” Prelac said. “They have something tangible to hold and let them know they're not alone.”
Prelac is determined to grow the nonprofit’s reach.
“I would love to get into every hospital in the U.S., but it's going to be a long road,” she said. For now, she hopes to see bears placed in at least one hospital in every state.
“Unfortunately, women leave the hospital empty-handed, and I hate that,” Prelac added. “That's what I went through, and I don't want anyone else to feel that way.”
To learn more about Brooks' Bereavement Bears, visit www.brooksbereavementbears.com