NHS failing parents who lose their babies

THE NHS is failing to look after bereaved parents immediately after losing their children, a report has found.

An audit by stillbirth and neonatal death charity Sands and Bliss charity for babies born premature and sick, said most services lack sufficient specialist staffing input and appropriate facilities to support grieving families.

They said improvements to bereavement care are urgently needed as every week in the UK around 40 babies die during the neonatal period, from birth to 28 days old.

The care that bereaved families receive before, during and afterwards can have a critical impact upon their well-being in the months and years ahead, they added.

The joint Audit of Bereavement Care Provision in UK Neonatal Units found that despite instances of good practice by individual nurses and doctors, many services are not set up to deliver consistent high-quality bereavement care.

Health professionals are also not getting the training and support needed.

The report recommends steps that all NHS trusts and boards can take to improve, drawn from the National Bereavement Care Pathway, a partnership between the Government, charities and the NHS, which sets standards for providing excellent care to anyone affected by pregnancy and baby loss.

The findings are revealed as the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show a rise in infant mortality that is driven by an increasing neonatal death rate. While in recent years stillbirths have begun to fall, neonatal deaths have not, refocusing the significant challenge of meeting the Government’s target to reduce perinatal deaths by 20 per cent by 2020 and 50 per cent by 2025.

Dr David Evans, consultant neonatologist and vice-president for training and assessment at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “Today’s audit lays bare the gaps in bereavement support across neonatal units but, crucially, it makes a series of recommendations that, if implemented, could transform care in these delicate and emotional days and weeks after loss.”