CARING staff at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and charities across the Fylde coast have supported the national Baby Loss Awareness Week campaign to support bereaved families.
Baby Loss Awareness Week takes place every October in the UK and seeks to provide comfort and awareness to those who have been affected by losing a baby.
An awareness stand was held at Blackpool Victoria Hospital for families seeking advice, to talk to professionals and take away leaflets, resources and lovely memory boxes, donated to the Trust from 4 louis, a charity that supplies all hospital trusts in the UK with both memory boxes for all types of baby loss and much needed resources and support for staff.
This year there were a number of various local events to support the moving campaign, the main one being the Lights of Love Walk at Carleton Cemetery.
Sands, a stillbirth and neonatal death charity, held the annual walk and decorated the graves of beloved babies to create a special atmosphere for families.
The walk was lit up in fairy lights and lanterns and attended by more than 100 people who came together for this important and comforting time.
On the same evening, The Blackpool Tower and the arches on the promenade were also lit up in pink and blue during this week to support the cause. Throughout the UK famous buildings and monuments such as Wembley Stadium also took on these colours.
Megan Murray, Bereavement Support Nurse Specialist from the Families Division, supports families who experience Pregnancy and Baby Loss. She said: “We are trying continually to raise awareness of a very important campaign that affects so many people.
“Every day in the UK 15 babies will die before or shortly after birth and one in four pregnancies will experience early miscarriage before 12 weeks of pregnancy.
“Blackpool is very fortunate to have local groups for support. Both SANDS and the Miscarriage Association hold monthly support groups in Blackpool, meeting on the fourth Wednesday of the month.’’
Both groups have their own websites for further information.