Forget Me Not bereavement suite offers quiet space for parents

A new purpose-designed and built Bereavement Suite has been opened at the RUH Bath Birthing Centre to help families cope with the loss of a child.

The Forget Me Not suite has been equipped, furnished and decorated with help from volunteer fund-raisers, many of who were present at the official opening ceremony.

The suite provides a space away from the busy maternity ward where grieving families who have experienced a stillbirth or neonatal death can have the privacy they need at a particularly difficult time.

Midwifery Sister and Bereavement Lead at the RUH, Linda Davis, said: "To lose a baby is an horrific experience. Having a dedicated and designed space for those families is one of the most important parts of the service we provide here.

"It allows them to have the space and the time they need to grieve. We help them to create a personal memory box to take with them, and we offer expert support to help them to start understanding what has happened so they can take something positive from such a devastating event."

Guests at the opening included Masonic lodges from Bath that joined forces to raise £5,000 towards the suite, and Ceri Shaw, who set up the Bath branch of the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society, and who raised £6,000 for a specialist folding bed.

Also present were Victoria and Nick Price, from Frome in Somerset, who raised £9000 in memory of their baby George, who was tragically stillborn in October 2016. Their donation will go towards creating a new family room adjoining the suite.

Nick said: "If we can contribute even in a small way to this worthy cause, and help families and couples cope with this awful experience, then it will be a legacy for George. A family room would be so useful - it would give relatives somewhere to stay and to support the parents, while allowing them time alone when they need it."

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

• The Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust provides acute treatment and care for a catchment population of around 500,000 people in Bath, and the surrounding towns and villages in North East Somerset and Western Wiltshire. The hospital provides healthcare to the population served by four Clinical Commissioning Groups: Bath & North East Somerset CCG, Wiltshire CCG, Somerset CCG and South Gloucestershire CCG.
• The Trust has 759 beds and a comprehensive range of acute services including medicine and surgery, services for women and children, accident and emergency services, and diagnostic and clinical support services.
• In 2015 The Royal United Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was acquired the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (RNHRD) NHS Foundation Trust. The RNHRD treats patients from across the country offering services in rheumatology, chronic pain and chronic fatigue syndrome/ME.
• The RUH is changing - we have an exciting programme of redevelopment underway transforming our site and further improving the services we provide. The Trust is now working towards building a purpose built RNHRD and Therapies Centre and a new Dyson Cancer Centre. For more details visit: www.ruh.nhs.uk/fit4future

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