Parents of tragic babies still suffer under NHS

Published on Sunday 11 July 2010 16:33

PARENTS whose babies are stillborn or who die shortly after birth are still facing indignity under the NHS.

Only around half of health trusts surveyed have a quiet room where parents can go and sit away from the sights and sounds of women in labour or healthy newborns, according to a study, while more than half (52 per cent) of units had no dedicated midwife trained in bereavement - despite the fact 6,500 families every year suffer the loss of a child,

The charity Sands, which compiled the study, found 56 per cent of NHS trusts surveyed still used shared graves for babies but only 35 per cent used lockable grave covers.

Earlier this year, a London couple were told by police that the body of their five-day-old boy had been taken by a fox after being placed in a communal grave.

Judith Schott, improving care manager at Sands, said: "It is heartening to see that the care provided to bereaved parents has improved over the last 20 years. However, what is of great concern is the small but significant number of units where care is not up to standard.

"The fact that care in most units is good is of no help or comfort to those parents whose baby dies in a unit where care and resources are poor.

"Good care cannot remove the pain of parents' loss but poor care makes things worse and affects their short and long-term wellbeing."

Gail Johnson, education and practice development adviser at the Royal College of Midwives, said: "The rates of stillbirth in the UK may mean midwives can have limited experience in caring for bereaved families.

"This is why it is so important that services are developed and commissioned to meet the needs of parents who experience stillbirth or neonatal loss."

She said the RCM was aware of inconsistencies with the delivery of care and "midwives who are trying to support parents also feel isolated".