NMSF Publishes Damning Report into Bereavement Care 

Our latest report, Who cares when you lose a baby? highlighted the shortcomings of specialist bereavement midwife care revealing that 40 per cent of NHS Trusts providing maternity services do not have a specialist bereavement midwife counselor to help parents following the tragic loss of a stillborn baby or shortly after birth. 

Key findings:

• There are 74 NHS Trusts (40 per cent) without a specialist bereavement midwife counselor
• The survey received an 82 per cent response rate from the NHS Trusts
• Absolute postcode lottery of bereavement maternity care
• Apparent lack of a uniform approach or best practice evident
• 13 per cent employ a bereavement midwife counselor on a part-time or job-share basis
• There was a complete disregard of the specialist nature of bereavement midwife care evident from some NHS Trusts  

"No bereavement counseling has been offered by the hospital.  They made no contact with us after we left the hospital after the stillbirth. The time just after the loss of your child is bewildering.  But, my Mum could not bear to see the pain we were both in and got our GP out to visit us (she had not been told by the hospital that our son had died) and she arranged counselling for us.  I am also funding private counselling.” (quote from recently bereavement Mother)

The full report can be downloaded here http://www.rcm.org.uk/midwives/features/who-cares-when-you-lose-a-baby/

First joint NMSF/RCM leaflet published

We are extremely proud to announce that our first joint publication titled, There Are No Guarantees has been launched. For the past few months we have worked in close consultation with our partners at the RCM to produce what we believe is an important leaflet relevant to anyone planning on giving birth. It has now been adopted by a number of NHS Trusts and is being distributed to pregnant women at their first Midwife appointment. The leaflet can be downloaded here http://www.rcm.org.uk/college/resources/useful-links/ 

NMSF Funds Bereavement Care Network

We have helped to fund the Bereavement Care Network which has been developed by the Royal College of Midwives, Sands (the stillbirth and neonatal death charity) and Bliss (the special care baby charity), the Bereavement Care Network helps practitioners to share good practice and procedures, exchange ideas and provide informal support.

It is the discussion area for midwives, nurses and student nurses and midwives who provide, or who are interested in, the care offered to parents whose baby dies.

It is also a way for RCM, Sands, Bliss and NMSF to keep professionals informed of relevant information, developments and resources.

NMSF Receives Royal Recognition - Tea at The Palace

We are proud to that the NMSF was officially recognised by HM Queen Elizabeth II for it's work in helping others and campaigning to improve maternity services. We were invited to attend Buckingham Palace to take tea with the Queen on the 8th July 2008.

Above: Andrew & Rachel Canter outside Buckingham Palace

It was a fantastic day which we thoroughly enjoyed. Jake was most definitely in our thoughts as the sun shone down on the beautiful Palace gardens. Although we did not speak directly to the Queen we were fortunate enough to come within a few feet of her, which was absolutely thrilling. We both will remember the occasion for the rest of our lives and it will inspire us even more to continue the work of the NMSF. Oh and the cucumber sandwiches and cakes were delicious too!  

NMSF invited to speak at RCM AGM

We were honoured to have been asked to speak at the Royal College of Midwives AGM which took place in London on the 6th May. The title of the presentation was “It’s my baby too – a fathers reflection on neonatal loss”. This was extremely well received and made a real impact on the audience of medical professionals.

Delivering our charter to the Department of Health

We chose Jake's 2nd birthday 29th October 2007 as the NMSF's official launch day. Our charter was delivered to the Department of Health with the help of our local MP and patron, Grant Shapps.

 
1. Andrew Canter & 'Mr. Stork' delivering the NMSF's charter to the Department of Health (DoH)
2. Andrew Canter, 'Mr. Stork' & Grant Shapps MP (Shadow Housing Minister) outside the DoH
3. Rachel Canter, 'Mr. Stork' & Rosie Harman outside the DoH
4. 'Mr. Stork', Rachel & Ruby Canter, Anne Milton MP (Shadow Health Minister) & Andrew Canter after the press conference at Port Cullis House, Westminster

The press conference at Port Cullis House, Westminster was attended by Anne Milton, Shadow Health Minister who fully supports the NMSF's objectives. There are a number of policy changes and initiatives that we will be looking to be involved with in the coming months.

Latest Media Coverage

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/health/health/2817432/The-unit-was-chaotic-and-short-staffed-I-felt-I-had-to-shout-to-be-heard.html

Latest news from Midwives Magazine the bi-monthly magazine of the Royal College of Midwives