Bereavement support midwife is appointed

Louise Bardon, based at the Lancashire Women & Newborn Centre at Burnley General Hospital, will ensure the care being delivered will benefit families and be the link to the midwives on the ward.

Louise said: “It’s a real privilege to be taking this role, and I feel extremely positive that with continued determination the support for our bereaved families will go from strength to strength.

“We have excellent support from our service users providing us with lots of charitable donations that help improve the service we provide and we cannot thank them enough.”

Here’s why Louise’s role is so important: Parents’ stillborn son heartache

Louise has practiced as a caseload midwife for many years providing one to one support for women and their families through difficult times, such as losing a baby, and it was at this point her interest in bereavement support grew.

Angela O’Toole, head of midwifery at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “The Trust is currently putting a lot of work in to reducing stillbirths and saving babies lives.

“We’re working with the Perinatal Institute in Birmingham addressing some of the key factors that may impact on stillbirths such as smoking, encouraging mums to be more aware of their foetal movements and improving awareness around the growth of babies during pregnancy.

“All of these are key elements of a baby becoming compromised.”