Parents whose babies are stillborn at the QMC no longer have to stay within earshot of newborns and their families thanks to a bereavement centre set up by a couple who lost their daughter.
After losing baby Emily in 2013, Richard and Michelle Daniels were on a ward at the hospital shared with other parents who were celebrating.
Although they praised the care they received from staff, the experience inspired them to fund raise for a new facility at the hospital.
After setting up dedicated charity Forever Stars, the Chilwell couple gathered £100,000 in donations.
On Thursday their goal of a dedicated bereavement centre became a reality when the ribbon was cut at the Serenity Suite at the hospital.
Michelle said: “One of the most devastating things at the time was hearing a father on the phone outside my room talking to his family telling them how they’d just had a baby girl.
“It was that split feeling of wanting to get out of that clinical environment where I was listening to other babies versus wanting to stay, partly to recover but also to spend time with my stillborn baby.”
Picture: The suite provides a place where families can grieve in private
It provides an area where families who suffer the same tragedy as the Daniels can grieve and reflect in private.
Richard said: “It gives people the opportunity to create a lifetime of memories – you are with your child for such a short period of time.
“Every moment sticks with you forever. Hopefully this environment will help them have some fond memories – as fond as they can be.
“We know from experience you think a lot about that moment in hospital an awful lot after you’ve lost your child.”
Around four children are stillborn a week at the hospital, and staff say the new suite will soon prove vital in the healing process for families.
QMC bereavement midwife Mandy Dunn said: “I think nobody ever thinks they are going to lose their baby. It’s such a shock.
“To have this area where families are protected from the world for a time is really important.”
