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Bereavement service

Posted By deltamf65

"Bereavement service"

About: Royal Hallamshire Hospital / Maternity care

(as a service user),

We lost our baby during the second trimester of pregnancy. It was a sad and difficult experience but we were helped so much by the incredible care and support that we received from staff at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.

We received excellent and compassionate care at the time and our heartfelt thanks to the staff who did such an amazing job caring for us both.

We are also very thankful to the hospital for the sensitive and compassionate way in which the cremation of our baby was arranged. We were invited to attend a service and close family members came with us. I was able to carry my baby's casket into the crematorium and was given a beautiful yellow rose to put on her casket. It helped us a lot to know that our daughter's remains were cared for with dignity. The service was taken by a hospital chaplain and she spoke to us before and after the service and was very kind.

We know how much financial pressure the NHS is under and how much time pressure staff are under, and so we really appreciate that this service exists. The high standard of care that we have received has had a very positive effect on our mental health. I am in much better shape emotionally than I would have been if we hadn't received such compassionate care at the hospital and if we hadn't been able to attend the cremation service.

Thank you.

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Responses

Response from Nancy Henwood, Patient Experience Co-ordinator, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 6 years ago
Nancy Henwood
Patient Experience Co-ordinator,
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 02/02/2018 at 16:49
Published on Care Opinion at 16:53

Thank you for sharing this incredibly difficult and personal experience. We send you and your partner our deepest sympathies. It will mean such lot to the staff involved to know they were able to support you in the way you describe and that the care they gave then continues to help now.

Being able to read this will also provide support and comfort to those who have been through similar a experience.

With many thanks and kindest regards

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by deltamf65 (a service user)

Dear Nancy, thank you for your reply and kind words, I really appreciate it. I also want to update my story.

We recently had a follow up appointment at Jessops. Again the standard of care was excellent. The letter we received told us to go to a particular reception desk where a member of staff would meet us and take us via a different route so that we would not need to walk through antenatal care.

Not having to walk through antenatal helped, but mainly it was the fact that so much thought had gone into helping people who have lost a baby, that made me feel cared for.

The receptionist, the member of staff who met us and the doctor were all very kind. We felt able to ask all the questions that we wanted to ask and we received clear, honest and compassionate answers. We didn't feel rushed and all the way through we have felt that people have made time for us.

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