Commemorating Baby Loss Awareness Week

Trees of remembrance offer bereaved parents the opportunity to honour their baby in a simple, quiet way

This week is Baby Loss Awareness Week.   At three Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust sites trees of remembrance have been put up for bereaved families to display commemorative messages.

One of them is at the Horton Midwifery Led Unit.

The annual awareness week is now in its 22nd year.   Its an opportunity for bereaved parents, families, and friends to commemorate babies’ lives, and to raise awareness about pregnancy and baby loss.

Remembrance trees offer bereaved parents the opportunity to honour their baby in a simple, quiet way, and will effectively ‘grow’ as leaves are added.

Paula Gallacher, Bereavement Specialist Midwife at the Trust, said: “Baby Loss Awareness Week is a chance for those affected by baby loss and their families and friends to unite and speak with others to commemorate these lost lives.

“It is also an opportunity to raise awareness about the issues surrounding baby loss and what charities and other organisations are doing to provide support.

“The remembrance trees and messages enable women and their families to express a private and public declaration in memory of their babies. It is a beautiful symbol of remembrance and sometimes shared actions, such as placing a leaf on the tree, can say more and be more meaningful than words.”

Any dedications can be emailed to bereavementmidwives@ouh.nhs.uk.

Trees have also been placed on the Gynaecology Ward in the Neonatal Unit at the Women’s Centre at the John Radcliffe Hospital and in the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit in Oxford’s Rose Hill.

A service will be held in the Chapel at the John Radcliffe Hospital this Thursday at 11.30am, led by Chaplain Ruth Fitter.

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Published: 08/10/2024 12:56pm by Banbury FM Newsteam

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