Delivery suite manager, Moira Broadhead, Patient Experience Coordinator for Families, Janet Danson-Smith and Specialist Bereavement Nurse, Megan Murray in the new Forget-Me-Not suite
Baby death charities and parents who have experienced baby loss have worked with our bereavement specialist nurse to refurbish Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s bereavement room.
The Forget-Me-Not suite in the hospital’s Delivery Suite of the Women and Children’s Unit has been redesigned in a bid to ease the trauma faced by the women, their partners and family members who need to use it.
Women and their partners who have lost their baby after 16 weeks of pregnancy will be cared for in the new-look suite.
Bereaved parents have raised the money for the room both individually and with the help of the stillbirth and neonatal death charity SANDS. Bereavement charity 4 Louis have also helped by funding most of the furniture and accessories.
The room is designed to provide a comfortable and sensitive environment where women can feel supported and able to grieve in less clinical surroundings.
Bereaved parents who have donated to the room have been invited to the official opening of the suite on Friday, April 29.
Specialist bereavement nurse, Megan Murray, said she was delighted the suite had been refigured to give a sitting area, dining area, kitchenette and double bed.
The Forget-Me-Not Suite
“It is a wonderful area for these women and is designed to allow parents to talk and share their loss in a less clinical environment, for both mums and dads. The title Forget-Me-Not gives an air of compassion and hope and acknowledgement for the past, present and future,” Megan explained.
“We are so grateful for all the contributions we have had to enable us to develop this area which is also soundproofed to protect the privacy and dignity of people using the room.
“We are so pleased to invite families who have undergone the trauma of baby loss to come along on April 29 and view our beautiful room and allow us to say thank you for all the support they have given the hospital through their kind and generous donations.”
SANDS chairman, Helen Grimshaw, said: “It is a comfort to know that mums will have a safe and private environment where they can go through the experience of losing a baby without having added interruptions that may not be appropriate at the time.”