Counselling for families of stillborn babies needs to improve
- Feb 4, 2016
- EmmaArnold
Improvements need to be made in bereavement and counselling for parents of babies who have died, says a health minister.
An investigation has shown how services were 'patchy' and some parents were unable to access the help they needed.
Antoinette Sandbach, Conservative MP for Cheshire, experienced a stillbirth herself investigated the level of bereavement care in the UK.
She said how she didn't receive any bereavement counselling as there was nothing available where she lived.
Hannah Bottomley, assistant clinical negligence solicitor at PotterReesDolan, said:
We unfortunately deal with parents who have lost their children either during birth or shortly after. The impact this loss has on the parents, and the wider family, is huge and we see time and again how important the bereavement services are for the family to enable them to come to terms with their loss and to try and move forward with their lives.
We were therefore delighted that the issue of the disparity of such services throughout the UK has been brought to national attention through a local Cheshire MP who has sadly gone through the loss of a child herself.
The loss of a loved is always difficult and our sincerest sympathies go out to all those families who are dealing with the loss of a child.
Every hospital should have a dedicated midwife specialised in bereavement care according to Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal charity.
The charity believes there should be soundproofed facilities and parents should be offered ongoing after-care.
We have commented in the past on the issue of infant death and stillbirths which you can read here.