Name:

Organisation: Whiston Hospital

Award Category: Outstanding Team Care

Sponsored By:

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My Plea:

The Bereavement Team at Whiston Hospital’s Maternity Unit offer bespoke and holistic care to families who suffer a baby loss.

We care for families who have experienced the loss of a baby from 13 weeks of pregnancy; births as well as those who have died in the neonatal period.

Our aim is to create as many memories as possible for our families. We deliver care from initial diagnosis throughout the intrapartum period and postnatally, aiming to meet every parent’s unique requirements.

Following delivery, we encourage families to spend as much time as they wish in our two designated bereavement suites and to be involved with the care of their babies, including dressing and bathing.

We offer blessing or naming services for our babies and work closely with the Chaplaincy Service at the Trust. The Bereavement and Chaplaincy teams offer funerals for all babies born at and beyond 13 weeks and communicate directly with parents to ensure their wishes are met. We also hold an annual Baby Remembrance Service at the hospital.

We take photographs of our babies with the families and have recently organised a bereavement photography course to share best practice, as well as our personal advice, with other members of the maternity team.
The Bereavement Team are heavily involved in fundraising for items that NHS budgets don’t stretch to, but that we know are incredibly important for our families. As a result of our charity work, we offer ceramic and ink hand and footprints and supply memory boxes, clothing and baby blankets to all our families. Most recently, the team have led on the development of baby memorial garden in the grounds of the hospital.

We offer support for as long as is required following a bereavement, via frequent meetings, telephone calls and/or emails. This includes a consultant debrief with every family with a member of the Bereavement Team present. We also offer pre-conceptual advice and support in subsequent pregnancies.

The team consists of two Midwives, Julie Sanderson and Katherine Hughes.
Both Katherine and Julie ensure that colleagues within the Maternity Department are kept up to date with changes to guidelines, policies and support junior staff to develop their confidence, therefore enhancing care to parents.

We are incredibly proud of the service we deliver and are constantly striving to further develop and improve to ensure we do all we can for the families we meet.

We are truly touched and honoured to have been nominated for such a prestigious award and to highlight the importance of raising awareness of baby loss.

What others have said:

“I work at the hospital and know what an outstanding job this team does. However, sadly, we were given cause to experience first-hand the dedication and compassion shown to parents who have lost their babies, when my niece lost her first child at 24 weeks. The difference this team made to how the family were feeling at that time cannot be measured; we would have been lost without them. They make such a difference to so many people, at a time when it is needed most. ”

“I am nominating the Maternity Bereavement Team for their outstanding care and compassion. They make such a difference to people’s lives when it is needed most, showing empathy and understanding. They also offer practical help to grieving families, which is often what is most needed, but not thought about. ”

“Wonderful team! Kind and compassionate.”

“This midwife who delivered our beautiful sleeping princess was incredible. Her calm and caring nature got us through such a difficult time. She explained everything, didn’t leave our sides and even stayed later than her shift until I had delivered our baby and stayed longer so she could dress our daughter and get some hand and footprint pictures made for us before she went home. She made sure she came back at the end of the shift to say goodbye to everyone, including myself, my partner, all of my family and especially our daughter. She is such an inspiration and there should be more people like her in the world. Absolutely amazing!”