Sands has partnered with The South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen to build a new Bereavement Suite.  

The suite will offer a peaceful and comfortable environment for families who have experienced the loss of a baby during pregnancy, birth, or after birth. It will create a quieter and more private space for parents to spend precious time with their baby and create lasting memories that will help them on their grief journey.  

The new Bereavement Suite is set to open later in 2023, and Sands is currently seeking donations to help fund the project. 

"Sands N.I has been working with hospitals in the Belfast, Southern and Western Trusts since 2017, with three projects already completed, and the Craigavon suite project in the final stages. 

"The South West Acute Hospital Bereavement Suite project will mean that both maternity hospitals in the Western Trust will have a dedicated Bereavement Suite.”  

Steven Guy - Sands Northern Ireland Coordinator.

The Bereavement Suite is part of the hospital's ongoing efforts to improve bereavement care services. The project is part of a larger Sands Northern Ireland project to ensure that a dedicated Bereavement Suite is available in every maternity hospital in Northern Ireland. 

The quality of care that bereaved families receive when their baby dies can have long-lasting effects. Good care cannot remove parents’ pain and grief, but it can help parents through this devastating time.  

Sands leads the National Bereavement Care Pathway which aims to improve the quality and consistency of bereavement care received by parents in NHS trusts and health boards after pregnancy loss or the death of a baby. Work is underway with relevant stakeholders to promote consistent national bereavement care standards in Northern Ireland. 

The new bereavement suite will ensure that a bereavement room is available and accessible in the South West Acute Hospital, and that all bereaved parents are offered opportunities to make memories, meeting two of the NBCP’s standards for all NHS Trusts.  

“The hospital staff is committed to providing the best possible care for families who have experienced the loss of a baby.

"Losing a baby can be a very distressing experience, and the care provided by the hospital staff can make a real difference to how families cope with their experience of baby or pregnancy loss.” 

Brenda McCabe - Lead Midwife for South West Acute and Omagh Hospitals.

The Western Trust continues to look at ways to support bereaved parents. In 2017 the Trust took steps to improve the care given to women and partners in their hospitals through the employment of a Childbirth and Pregnancy Loss Specialist Midwife. 

“One element of the Childbirth and Pregnancy Loss Specialist Midwife role is to bridge the gap between bereaved families and hospital staff, following the loss of a baby, and to assist in providing immediate and long-term sensitive care and support to all involved.  

“The Lavender Suite at Altnagelvin Hospital, Derry also opened in 2017, for women and their partners, who have sadly been given the devastating news that their baby has died, to spend precious time and say goodbye.

“The Lavender Suite was jointly funded by the WHSCT and opened by Sands and has received excellent feedback from all the families who have unfortunately needed to use it.” 

Maureen Miller - Head of Midwifery.

Sands has been able to develop the bereavement facility with the help of local parents in the Fermanagh and Omagh area, who have fundraised in memory of their babies who sadly died before or after childbirth. 

The new Bereavement Suite is set to open later in 2023, and Sands are currently seeking donations to help fund the project. Find out how you can support this initiative.