[helen]

Please remember that although LAL is a safe haven, where you can talk among friends who understand, that large parts of this board are public. Don't forget to keep yourself safe on the internet.

Of course friendships will develop, and you will want to be able to contact people in other ways. Just be careful about giving too many details unless you have got to know someone well. If you are meeting up, it is always of a good idea for a group of several people to meet at first, and of course meet in a public place.

Another issue which has been brought to my attention several times lately is the search engine visibility of our site. Of course, this is a good thing, because it enables bereaved families to find us, but it's important to be aware of the implications of this. If you use your full name, or your baby's full name, in your username or your posts, then it is likely that anyone who googles your name will find your posts. If you do not wish this to happen, simply use first names, avoid using a lot of identifying information.

Finally, please also be wary of anyone contacting you privately via this site attempting to direct you to any other site. If people who do this were genuine, they would simply be able to post the details of their site on LAL, we have no problem with this.

If anyone needs any further help or advice relating to this, please get in touch,

Thanks,
Helen