Voices of Baby Loss

Written by: Under The Mast
  • Summary

  • This podcast explores the impact of pregnancy and baby loss, gives you a chance to hear about people’s personal experiences, and learn more about the work being done to support bereaved families and save babies’ lives. It's hosted by Jen Coates, Director of Bereavement Support and Volunteering at Sands, and Caroline Verdon, broadcaster and journalist. Both have been personally touched by baby loss. You’ll hear from all parts of the baby loss community – from parents, to healthcare professionals, researchers to volunteers – who will share their experiences of being in this community and what they hope for the future. The podcast is produced by Sands. Sands is a UK based charity whose purpose is to save babies’ lives and support bereaved families. We also aim to give a voice to parents who have been touched by pregnancy and baby loss. You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram @Sandscharity, and on Twitter @SandsUK. You’ll find a new episode here every week, releasing episodes on Tuesday at 8am.
    Copyright 2023 Under The Mast
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Episodes
  • Our hopes for the future
    Dec 20 2022

    This episode handles the subject of baby loss.  

    On the last episode of the series, we share our guests’ hopes for the future, and Caroline and Jen reflect on their hopes, too. 

    From opening up the conversation, and helping families grow around their grief, to building on an open, learning culture, and saving babies’ lives, there are so many hopes shared.  

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    Sands is here to support anyone affected by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby, whenever and however they need it. You can get support from thesupport pages of our website , by joining our online community or by joining our facebook support group or facebook support group for Dads

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    Sands saves babies’ lives and supports bereaved families. To learn more about Sands, visit our website or find us on facebook , Instagram and Twitter

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    Voices of Baby Loss is produced by Under The Mast , creative audio productions 

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    20 mins
  • Supporting healthcare professionals to deliver excellent bereavement care
    Dec 13 2022

    his episode handles the subject of baby loss, bereavement, and grief.  

    On this week’s episode, we hear about the importance of good bereavement care, the support healthcare professionals need from organisations like Sands, and the difference this all makes to bereaved families in caring for them. 

    Our first guest is Marc Harder, Head of Bereavement Care and Hospital Liaison at Sands. He explains what we mean by bereavement care, and explains all about the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP). 

    Listen in to learn more about how the National Bereavement Care Pathway began, how it’s evolved and the plans to develop it across the UK Nations. 

    Marc, Jen and Caroline also talk about how the memory boxes Sands provide can help newly bereaved parents make memories – and how healthcare professionals can use this as a tool and process for opening a conversation. 

    We hear from Monica, a bereavement midwife from Frimley Health Foundation Trust about what a specialist bereavement care midwife does to support bereaved families and train other midwives. 

    And lastly we talk to Benash Nazmeen, Assistant Professor in Midwifery at Bradford University about the impact reflections have on improving practice in healthcare, and about the impacts of baby loss in underrepresented communities. 

     

    Useful links 

    To learn more about the National Bereavement Care Pathway in England, visit https://nbcpathway.org.uk/ 

    To learn more about the programme in Scotland, visit https://www.nbcpscotland.org.uk/ 

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    Sands is here to support anyone affected by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby, whenever and however they need it. You can get support from thesupport pages of our website , by joining our online community or by joining our facebook support group or facebook support group for Dads

    --- 

    Sands saves babies’ lives and supports bereaved families. To learn more about Sands, visit our website or find us on facebook , Instagram and Twitter

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    Voices of Baby Loss is produced by Under The Mast , creative audio productions 

    Show More Show Less
    51 mins
  • Creating space for parents’ voices to be heard & creating a just culture
    Dec 6 2022

    This episode shares stories of grief from a bereaved parent and handles the subject of baby loss, bereavement, and grief.  

    On this week’s podcast, Jen and Caroline discuss the importance of creating space for parents’ voices to be heard and how we can create a just culture. 

    The first guest in this episode is Clea Harmer, CEO of Sands. She talks to the podcast hosts about vital importance of healthcare professionals being able to say “sorry” to parents and why healthcare professionals need to acknowledge when something goes wrong so that they can work together with colleagues to ensure that mistakes are learnt from and not repeated.  

    Clea also talks about the work that Sands does to save babies’ lives and how listening to the experiences of bereaved parents is central to this work. Listening to parents and acting on their concerns is key to improving the safety of maternity services, as has been highlighted in both the East Kent and Ockenden reviews. 

    Jen and Caroline also speak to bereaved father, Vijay, who sadly lost his baby son Joshan in 2019. He talks about the experiences of care that he and his wife, Bhavna, received in hospital. He talks about the complexities of Joshan’s birth and how there was a lack of communication and equipment at the hospital which contributed to Joshan’s death. Vijay then felt he was left in the dark, with a lack of information about what happened during the birth. He had to wait three years for the result of the inquest into Joshan’s death. He reflects upon the impact this had had upon his family and his hope that lessons will be learnt for the future.  

    Useful links 

    To read the East Kent report, visit Maternity and neonatal services in East Kent: 'Reading the signals' report - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

    To read the Ockenden report, visit Final report of the Ockenden review - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

    Sands offers support groups specifically for men. To join, visit facebook.com/groups/sandssupportfordads 

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    Sands is here to support anyone affected by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby, whenever and however they need it. You can get support from thesupport pages of our website , by joining our online community or by joining our facebook support group or facebook support group for Dads

    --- 

    Sands saves babies’ lives and supports bereaved families. To learn more about Sands, visit our website or find us on facebook , Instagram and Twitter

    ---

    Voices of Baby Loss is produced by Under The Mast , creative audio productions 

    Show More Show Less
    54 mins

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