A new bereavement suite was opened this week at the Conquest Hospital in Hastings, East Sussex.
The ‘Snowdrop Suite’ will give bereaved parents a sympathetic environment to create memories and spend time with their baby, away from the maternity ward. The suite will help around 75 families a year, at one of their most difficult times in their lives.
Hastings & East Sussex Sands and the groups’ supporters raised £50,000 for the new suite and local volunteers Jayne Gibbins and Suz Brooks took part in the opening ceremony alongside some of the Bereavement Specialist Midwives.
The new suite is beautiful; you forget you’re on a hospital ward – which is exactly as we wanted it to feel like. We wanted to provide families with a room in which to make special memories and feel safe to grieve. Some home comforts; some things that might seem basic, but make a big difference when you find yourself suddenly lost at sea saying both ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ to your baby.
The funds Sands have donated for this bereavement suite have been raised with so many babies’ names in our heads and hearts. This room is for them and their families and for the people that held those families up through their loss. It is a safe and tranquil place for those families who are yet to get in this boat and sail these choppy waters. May it make their journeys a little smoother.
- Suz Brooks, bereaved mum and Sands volunteer
Watch the opening ceremony and hear an interview with Hastings & East Sussex Sands volunteers Jayne Gibbins and Suz Brooks and the bereavement team at the hospital.
After losing a baby, parents and families find it very hard to stay on the labour ward. They are surrounded by the sounds and activities of birth, including the cries of other babies and families celebrating. The grief experienced having suffered the loss of a baby is profound and this is why being able to offer this bereavement suite is so important to women and their families. It allows them to spend time with their baby in a safe environment where they can form the bonds and memories which are so important to the grieving process.
- Matron Kirsty Milward, Bereavement Specialist Midwife
The suite is located near to the entrance of the delivery suite to allow on-going care to be given by midwifery staff, but with the facilities of a double bed, kitchenette, en-suite shower and toilet. It provides a private and quiet space to spend time as a family, with the opportunity to have their baby by their bedside in a cuddle cot, according to parents’ individual wishes.
To aid with memory making a memory box for keepsakes is provided by staff, and parents are supported to create these memories, through time with their baby. In addition to this, hand and footprints, photographs and any other wishes are taken into consideration.