WALKING on to the labour ward at 13 weeks pregnant, Sharon Campbell wasn’t beaming with the joy of an expectant mother. At her 12-week scan, Sharon had been told her baby had lots of medical complications and that she should terminate the pregnancy.
“It killed me,” the 38-year-old told The National. After taking two tablets to induce a medical abortion, Sharon was instructed to go to the labour ward to deliver her baby. “I walked past newborn babies leaving and happy fathers carrying new boy or girl balloons,” she said.
As she lay down in a labour room, she heard the cries of new babies, fully aware she would never hear the that of her own.
“The next day, I gave birth to my baby in the toilet,” she said. “I hated the fact there were babies being born around me when I had just lost mine. I was in a really bad way. It was so traumatic.”
When it was time for her to go home, hospital staff took her through the back door exit to avoid seeing other babies but she said other people were using the same exit, so it didn’t make a difference.
Sharon said if she had been offered a separate baby loss unit, where she could have avoided seeing other babies and happy families and had the opportunity to grieve her loss in a comfortable, private space, the death of her baby would have been less traumatic.
“The experience would still be horrible but not as much as being on a labour ward,” she said.
The NHS reports that among people who know they are pregnant, it is estimated that around one in eight pregnancies will end in miscarriage, with many ending before a person realises they are pregnant. Stillbirth happens in around one in every 250 births in the UK.
Families whose babies have died during pregnancy or shortly thereafter feel indescribable grief that can’t be fixed. But with good bereavement care the impact of the trauma can be reduced.
In Scotland, the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP) for Pregnancy and Baby Loss, supported by baby loss charity Sands, provides dedicated pathways designed for healthcare professionals involved in the care of women, partners and families at all stages of pregnancy and baby loss.
The NBCP Scotland project supports health boards to implement nine bereavement care standards, one of which is to create and improve bereavement spaces. Included is the recommendation that bereavement rooms are available and accessible in all hospitals.
“The care bereaved parents receive in hospital following the death of their baby is crucial,” said Sue McKellar, NBCP Scotland project manager. “These experiences may be remembered by parents for the rest of their lives and bad experiences are likely to exacerbate feelings of pain and grief, potentially for many years to come.
“Small details can mean a great deal to recently bereaved parents, and the environment in which care is delivered is of particular importance. This is why dedicated bereavement care rooms and suites are a necessity to ensure parents receive care that best suits their needs.”
Even though the Scottish Government is the only government in the UK to make NBCP mandatory, there is still much work to be done, with one campaigner urging the promises on paper be actioned into the creation of baby loss spaces.
Louise Caldwell, from East Kilbride, has been campaigning for dedicated baby loss facilities in Scotland since 2021 after delivering her own sleeping baby on a maternity ward.
“It is absolutely inhumane and against women’s rights not to have a dedicated space that’s solely for baby loss,” she told The National. “I genuinely have no idea why there are not more baby loss rooms available. Money, planning and location may possibly be reasons.”
Over the last four years, Louise has poured her time into visiting London to speak with previous MPs assistants and ministers but said “due to the uncertainty and extreme changes in the UK and Scottish political landscape”, there hasn’t been much advancement in making baby loss facilities a priority.
Her visits to London ended in feeling “let down” and “disheartened”. “The government isn’t acting,” she said. “It’s all false promises. Putting words on paper isn’t good enough.”
After years of campaigning, Louise was encouraged when Wishaw General Hospital created two baby loss rooms. This was followed by the opening of a dedicated bereavement suite in Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick. “I really appreciate the support that’s been given and the headway made within NHS Lanarkshire and Shetland,” she said.
Louise hopes that caring for families going through baby loss will be prioritised by the new Labour Government, “We need to hold the government accountable for its promises,” she said.
Sharon, Louise, and hundreds of other women who have visited labour and maternity wards while experiencing baby loss are hopeful that change is on the horizon. Sharon said: “I hope that we can get these baby loss units in every hospital as it will help ladies like me to grieve.”
