Providing a caring and support service for bereaved women, their partners and their children following a neonatal or infant death All Party Parliamentary Group winners, June 2011. Category: multidisciplinary care

摘要

The Queen Mary Maternity Unit, where we work, has approximately 4800 births a year.It is a major acute hospital in Isleworth, West London, which provides a full range of hospital services to residents of the London boroughs of Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames, and serves a local population of around 425,000 people, that is culturally diverse.Hounslow is one of London's largest boroughs, but in population terms it is ranked as average against other London boroughs. Hounslow does not have any wards within the 10% most deprived in England, but it has a fairly high-average score suggesting that several areas are relatively deprived; however, there are no pockets of extreme deprivation (UK Statistics Authority 2011). Pregnancy after care at West Middlesex University Hospital is multidisciplinary and holistic, and while we hope for every pregnancy to result in a healthy mother and baby, this is unfortunately not the case for a few. We feel it is important that in these circumstances the complex needs and emotional issues of women, their partners and children following bereavement and the distress related to childbirth are addressed. We believe it is important that not only the clinical care but also the psychological, physical, social, spiritual and sexual issues associated with bereavement in this context are explored to facilitate optimum recovery and so the future can be faced positively.