Parents raise £184k for Kettering General Hospital bereavement suite

Kettering General Hospital's room for bereaved parents is currently in the labour suite

Parents and families in Northamptonshire who have lost babies have helped raise £184,000 for a new bereavement suite.

The Northamptonshire Health Charity has been fundraising for the facility at Kettering General Hospital but still needs more donations.

The Twinkling Stars Appeal is hoping to raise £1m.

The charity said it wanted to help support families who have to leave hospital "with empty arms".

Currently, the hospital's bereavement room for new parents is in the labour suite, where other parents are celebrating new arrivals.

It is proposed the new unit will have a delivery room, a quiet room, a family room with kitchen and bathroom and an office for a specialised bereavement team to work with families.

Community fundraiser Michelle Leighton said: "These poor families are still having to give birth and deliver in a ward where families are taking their babies home and hearing crying babies and it's very upsetting.

"The plan is to create our own suite so families don't have to go through such trauma as they do now at a very sad time already."

The hospital's lead bereavement midwife, Lisa Drummond, said the hospital cares for up to 100 families each year who lose a baby, either during pregnancy, around the birth itself, or through compassionate induction - where a baby has so many genetic problems that they will not survive.

She said: "While we work very closely and supportively with parents in this situation, we know our facilities are not ideal and desperately want to change that, providing a safe space that is comfortable and protected from the sounds of the busy delivery suite to enhance the care we provide at this devastating time."

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [e-mail].u