Baby loss service brings parents together

Abigail Wickens (r) lost her son at 22 weeks

Hundreds of people gathered at Coventry Cathedral for a special service to mark Baby Loss Awareness Week.

The service was organised by healthcare professionals and charities across Coventry and Warwickshire, and open to anyone affected by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby.

Abigail Wickens, who lost her baby George when she was 20 weeks pregnant in 2022, said she felt comforted being around others parents who had had similar experiences.

Support from the Lily Mae Foundation also helped her, she said, as they provided "a gorgeous memory box".

"We walked out of the hospital without our baby, but we had this [box]," Ms Wickens who has two children, said.

Readings, music and a talk from a baby loss charity featured during the informal service.

Organisers said they wanted it to be uplifting and "provide comfort and connection to those who have experienced baby loss".

"Our goal is to help people feel less alone by offering a supportive space to remember their loved ones," a spokesperson said.

To support Baby Loss Awareness Week, a service was held at Coventry Cathedral

Rev Ricarda Witcome, lead chaplain of South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Everybody grieves in their own way, so in a sense there's always something quite lonely and isolating about what we feel.

"But a day like today tell us that there's other people like us on a similar journey."

According to the stillbirth and neonatal death charity Sands, about 15 in every 100 pregnancies ends in miscarriage and about 13 babies die every day in the UK.

Sam Collinge, lead bereavement midwife at George Eliot Hospital, said the service would give parents a space to connect with others who understand the impact of baby loss.

"At the time of a loss it's completely devastating and overwhelming and it really, really is hard for parents to hold on to hope but that is the one message that we do give to parents," she said.

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