New study into aftercare following stillbirth

A SANDS funded INSIGHT study at Southmead hospital has shown that a number of bereaved parents have faced long delays in confirming the death of their baby and in action being taken. In some cases the study indicated that families found the communication and actions taken by professionals to be insensitive. These results were taken from interviews with bereaved parents and from focus groups with various professionals from this field.  Participants’ experiences had varied greatly, but a number of improvements in care have been highlighted.

Effective communication by midwives and the parents being looked in the eye were deemed to be very important. Well-designed bereavement suites in hospitals have also been pinpointed as critical in good after-care. Parents were also found to be more open to a post-mortem if the procedure was explained to them fully and sensitively.

The study also highlighted issues with the follow-up care of parents of stillborn babies with parents emphasising the importance of clear information and follow-up appointments with their maternity team.

This is the first in-depth study of its kind to investigate experiences and collect recommendations from bereaved parents and the staff that care for them.

Dr Clea Harmer, Chief Executive at Sands said: “INSIGHT shows there is still a lot of work that needs to be carried out to improve the care, advice and information parents receive when they are given the devastating news that their baby has died….I would welcome further research on the subject.”

For more on this story please see SANDS article here

Or to read the research see here