York Hospital helps break the silence on baby loss

York Hospital will be showing its support for Baby Loss Awareness week this October by turning the lights on the hospital blue and pink, to help raise awareness and highlight the emotional impact of pregnancy and baby loss.

Baby Loss Awareness Week is an opportunity for bereaved parents, and their families and friends, to unite with others across the world to commemorate their babies’ lives.

The purpose of the week is to raise awareness about the issues surrounding pregnancy and baby loss in the UK, and push for tangible improvements in services, support, research or policy around bereavement support.

The request to light up the hospital came from Annika Dowson who contacted the Trust.  Annika, who lives in Helmsley with husband James and son Nathaniel, has long campaigned to raise awareness of the death of a baby after the couple’s daughter, Gypsy, was stillborn in 2008.

York Hospital will be lit in pink and blue from 9-15 October 2018, culminating on 15 October with the global ‘Wave of Light’.  On this date, families across the world are invited to take part by lighting a candle at 7pm and leave it burning to join in remembering all babies that have died too soon.

Elizabeth Ross, Head of Midwifery, York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said:  ‘We are committed to improving care and facilities for bereaved parents and we continue to work closely with York SANDS (Stillbirth and neonatal death charity) on this.

“We maintain our focus on improving bereavement care for people affected by pregnancy and baby loss.  In recognition and support of this, we are part of a national pilot for implementing the new National Bereavement Care Pathway led by our bereavement midwife.  The aim is to ensure that all bereaved parents are offered equal, high quality, individualised, safe and sensitive care.”

09 October 2018