Mums and babies charity Baby Beat has spent £347.40 on a new consignment of books to help support families grieving the loss of a baby.
The books include stories written to help children understand the loss of a sibling as well as titles to help parents navigate the trauma of miscarriage, stillbirth or losing a baby shortly after birth.
All books will be gifted by the specialist team of trained bereavement midwives at the Royal Preston Hospital’s Sharoe Green Maternity Unit. Bereavement liaison officer Lynne Graysmark, who applied to Baby Beat for the books’ funding, said: “The books are used as a tool to help our families through a very difficult time in their lives and are a proven comfort, source of information and emotional support.
“They encourage communication and help reduce the feeling of isolation many families feel. They help bereaved families navigate the grieving process in their own time and according to their individual needs.”
Lucy Clark, of Baby Beat, said: “We’re very pleased to have again been able to support this project. Baby loss is something many people find very difficult to talk about. The written word can therefore sometimes be just as or even more helpful than the spoken word in enabling families suffering loss both process and comes to terms with their situation.”
As well as bereavement services, Baby Beat, which is part of the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Charity family, funds specialist equipment, other patient services and comforts, clinical care, local research and training to benefit mums and newborns from the Preston and Chorley area, who use the Royal Preston Hospital’s Sharoe Green Maternity Unit for their maternity care and delivery. The charity also supports Lancashire and South Cumbria’s specialist Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which is within the Sharoe Green Maternity Unit. NICU looks after between 400-450 of the most premature and poorly babies from across the two counties and their families annually.