Trust bereavement co-ordinator develops miscarriage care

Bereavement care for parents who have suffered miscarriage is developed by a Trust co-ordinator. The Trust does not employ a bereavement midwife.

The Trust says it also works closely with Sands, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity, which provides memory boxes and information packs in Trust hospitals for all bereaved parents who have suffered stillbirth or neonatal death.

The charity maintains books of remembrance in the Altnagelvin and Erne Hospitals where bereaved parents can have an entry made in memory of their baby or child.

In a statement released in response to a Freedom of Information request, the Trust said it “provides funding, in the form of a service level agreement, with the Omagh/Fermanagh and Foyle Area offices of Cruse Bereavement Care for the provision of bereavement support and counselling to anyone coping with bereavement within the Western Trust.”

The Trust also provides bereavement information in the form of a Trust bereavement booklet and organises an annual remembrance service for parents, families and friends bereaved of a baby or child.

The Trust also offers burial for early miscarriage to parents who prefer this option.

“This is provided free of charge and is carried out by the hospital chaplains, once a month with an interdenominational service to which parents are welcome to attend,” the Trust stated.

Equally, the Trust provides information on its website including the Trust Bereavement Booklet “When Someone Close to you Dies” which can be downloaded.

“There is a Bereavement Support Organisations section, containing links to relevant support and counselling organisations eg Sands, Cruse Bereavement Care, the Compassionate Friends, Miscarriage Association, SIDS (Sudden infant Death Syndrome),” the Trust stated.

Maternity staff are also trained how to support bereaved parents.

“A Trust Bereavement Coordinator works within the Trust to develop bereavement care, standards and training for all types of bereavement, including miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death,” the authority explained.

“She has responsibility for coordinating the Western Trust implementation of the HSC Strategy for Bereavement Care through the Western Trust Bereavement,” the Trust stated.