The Fetal Medicine Unit of St Mary’s hospital, Manchester, constantly looks to enhance the service they provide to women, couples and families who have to face saying a final goodbye to babies who have died during pregnancy, particularly when the women have, for their own safety, had to go through the birth process with the certain knowledge that there will be no live baby at the end of it.
The room St Mary’s provides allows bereaved parents to spend time with their baby, to dress them and to cuddle them and to make some memories.
Beartown Patchwork & Quilters have been sewing an ongoing supply of tiny quilts for the babies and many are kept by parents as part of their memories. Many of us have had either personal experience of saying goodbye to a baby or have friends or family who have had such experiences so we feel strongly about supporting other families going through such tragic losses and helping them say goodbye to their babies with dignity and love.
We have had a lovely letter from St Mary’s which reads…..
‘Dear sewers at Beartown Patchwork & Quilters,
We wanted to say a huge thank you for all your hard work in sewing such beautiful items for the families we care for. We offer these blankets to families who are under our care here in the regional Fetal Medicine Unit who are faced with impossible decisions about their babies. Some sadly suffer pregnancy losses. Others are faced with making the extremely difficult decision to end a pregnancy for medical reasons.
The offer of your items show the families the support we are giving them and how we care for them and their babies.
So again, thank you so very much. Warm regards,
The Midwives at The Fetal Medicine Unit,’
