Claire Litchfield | Lead Midwife for Pregnancy Loss, Wexham Park Hospital“The Abi Cot looks beautiful and is very easy to use for maternity staff, and it is very easy to move around the room. It has become a vital piece of equipment for our unit and we are so grateful to be able to offer parents precious time and space to be with their babies.”
Professionals
How we can help
Better understanding and the provision of bereavement training for midwives and healthcare professionals is crucial if we are to improve the way bereaved parents are cared for in our hospitals. Losing a baby is a traumatic experience and in those first few hours and days to follow the manner in which we care for parents will have a lasting impact on how they cope and reflect on their tragedy over the years to come.
As a midwife you may have very little experience or knowledge of working with parents who have experienced a stillbirth or neo-natal death however, since this is sadly a daily occurrence at some point you should expect that you will be needed to support and care for families who have lost babies. Being equipped and prepared to support them can only come through better education and training.
We know there is no mandatory stillbirth training in the midwifery curriculum and the Royal Society of Midwives acknowledges this gap. We seek to plug that gap by providing training materials and specialist bereavement training courses for midwives.
We would like to keep you updated with latest news about our work and how you can help support us through fundraising & events.