I cannot believe a wee mammy has done this
Tears as ward campaign is successful Bereaved mum wins her battle to provide dedicated facilities for women who lose their babies
A BEREAVED mum wept tears of joy after the success of her campaign to provide dedicated facilities for women who lose their babies. The first of the new special units for mums who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth or the death of a new baby will open on October 31 at University Hospital Wishaw in Lanarkshire. The announcement came three weeks after the Record called for urgent action to ensure the delivery of special units in all Scottish maternity hospitals for mums to deliver babies that have died in the womb or won’t survive after birth. Louise Caldwell, who led the campaign after losing her own baby on a regular maternity ward, said: “I just can’t believe a wee mammy from East Kilbride has been able to achieve something like this.” Louise told her own story to the Record before the last Scottish Parliament election. She and husband Craig have three sons, Cody, 14, Aaron, 11, and Noah, five, but have also suffered three miscarriages. At the 12-week scan for one of them, they learned the baby had died and that Louise would need to return to the hospital the next day to deliver. The couple thought they would be taken to a special ward but they were told nothing like that existed and were taken to the regular labour suite. As they walked in, the door was held open by a beaming new dad. Louise said that after the delivery: “I walked down the corridor clutching a little memory box. It felt like the longest corridor in the world. “I stared at the floor the whole way to try to avoid seeing the balloons, the baby cardigans, the thank you cards for the midwives.”
Since then, she has campaigned relentlessly for dedicated facilities for perinatal loss.
Louise said: “This isn’t a want, this is a necessity for women’s mental health and women’s rights.”
Last night, she spoke of her joy at achieving the first of the special rooms.
She said: “I had a meeting with a senior midwife and others and thought I was going to get a grilling but then they just mentioned that two rooms would be created by October 31 at Wishaw General.
“The tears started flowing. I kept thinking, ‘Have I really done this?’”
She added: “It still hurts my heart that I had to lose a baby to get these two rooms.
“The rooms will be within the maternity unit in case women need emergency treatment but they will be soundproofed so they will not be able to hear babies crying and there will be a separate entrance and exit.
“What a massive change for future women going through this.
“It won’t take away their loss but it will give them a little bit of comfort to the pain they are going through.”
Louise said the campaigning would continue because she wants to hold the Scottish Government to an election pledge to provide the rooms in all maternity units by the end of next year.
Campaigners fear not enough progress has been made so far.
Louise is now extending her campaign to Westminster to help bereaved mums in the rest of the UK.
Leah Noble, senior midwife at maternity inpatients in Wishaw, said yesterday: “While no facilities can lessen the grief and anguish bereaved parents may feel, we know how important well-designed bereavement rooms and suites are to ensure that appropriate care is delivered in the most sensitive environment possible.”