On call to support grieving parents
How one mum of three Has been recognised for Her work Helping others deal with the Heartache of stillbirth
THE pain of losing her baby to stillbirth is something Julie Morrison knows she will carry for the rest of her life.
Her grief led her to set up the charity Baby Loss Retreat, to make sure that other families don’t have to face the heartache alone.
The charity offers bereaved parents a free weekend break to help them process their grief with on-site access to all the support services they may need.
And when the pandemic forced these events to be cancelled, Julie set up a new phone and online counselling and trauma therapy service – even helping one distraught family to arrange a funeral.
Julie, 40, said: “When one mum told me she would not be able to settle until she put her child to rest, I called the hospital and funeral directors, and went with her to dress the baby. It meant so much to her and it helped my own grief to give another parent that support.
“We’ve had lots of calls during lockdown. The isolation makes it even harder to cope with their emotions but we were there for them.”
Now Julie’s commitment and compassion have been rewarded with a National Lottery Award along with £3,000 to help her continue her vital work. Almost 5,000 people were nominated for a 2020 national lottery
Award – the annual search for the UK’S favourite National Lottery funded people and projects.
It’s thanks to National Lottery players that £30million* is raised for good causes such as Julie’s every week.
The awards celebrate the inspirational individuals who do extraordinary things with the help of National Lottery funding.
Baby Loss Retreat was founded in february 2018 and provides free two-Hight breaks to mums and dads in Scotland who have last a child to miscarriage. stillbirth or I shortly after birth with three retreats per ran Her retreats got off the ground with the help of funding from The National Lottery Julie, from Coatbridge. North Lanarkshire. quit her cleaning business to run the charity as well as to campaign on issues around baby loss and grief Julie was 37 weeks pregnant with her first child when she and husband Bryan. 47. were told their daughter Erin had no heartbeat. Their grief was made worse by the lad of aftercare once they left hospital and the long wait for counselling she said i tried to get on with my life but there was little support and i was sucidal. losing a child is still a taboo subject.”
The couple went on to have three more children – Demi, 15, Aiden, 14, and Leon, five – but each pregnancy was filled with anxiety and Julie suffered from crippling postnatal depression.
She said: “It took a lot of fight to keep going. Bryan and I felt that better aftercare would have helped us, and this was what we decided to provide. Not just a support group that you have to fit into daily life, but space and time to talk quietly.”
“The coronavirus crisis means women are going for scans and receiving bad news alone, but our retreats are open again and we’ll be here to help them.”
She added: “I want to thank National Lottery players for supporting us.”