A midwife at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals was announced as the proud winner of a prestigious award from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) last week, for the standard of personalised care she provides to bereaved families after a pregnancy loss.
Claire Braithwaite, Lead Bereavement Midwife at the Trust, described as “an angel in human form”, won the Outstanding Contribution to Midwifery Services: Pregnancy Loss and Bereavement Care category at the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Awards 2024 at The Brewery London on Friday 18 October.
The award recognises excellence in bereavement care provision by maternity staff for women and their families when a baby dies.
Claire was delighted by the recognition: “Receiving this award demonstrates that as an organisation we are getting bereavement care right for families. More importantly, we know this approach is appreciated because mothers, fathers and grandparents have told us in their feedback.
"These families have lost so much, and we have a responsibility to talk about all options, however difficult that is and to ultimately help make memories that have to last a lifetime.
“This award is great recognition for our team including all the midwives on delivery suite, the community midwives, the staff on the ward, the neonatal team, the chaplaincy service, medical illustration team and Blended Learning. Supporting bereaved families starts the moment a family are told of a miscarriage, pregnancy loss, stillbirth or neonatal death. Every member of staff who comes into contact from that moment plays a key part in care. It is always a team effort. None of it could happen individually, it's about everybody coming together.”
At the awards ceremony, the RCM’s Chief Executive, Gill Walton, said: “Claire works above and beyond her job description and truly encompasses the RCM’s values.
“Pregnancy loss and bereavement care is an ongoing and continuous process that does not have a fixed conclusion or end point. Claire is committed to acknowledging baby loss because there are no second chances to get this right.”
Claire dedicated the award to the families she continues to care for, as well as to her colleagues who work alongside her to ensure that seamless and responsive bereavement care following baby loss is always available.
She was nominated by Jo Lambert, Divisional Nursing & Midwifery Director, who said: “The role of the bereavement midwife is to be an advocate, to think creatively, sometimes unconventionally, without assumptions based on age, ethnicity, gestation of the pregnancy or age of the baby.
“It is about providing real options, being flexible and giving time and space to families to consider what is important to them. Choice and personalisation in maternity care is high on the national agenda and offering meaningful memories provides autonomy and personal care at such a difficult time.
“I am really proud of Claire and the whole team for the care that they give and the compassion they show when supporting bereaved families.”
In preparation for the judging process by the RCM panel, Claire reached out to families that she has cared for. They sent thank you messages and pictures, and she was privileged that families wanted to contribute, to tell their stories, and share precious memories.
The RCM were hugely impressed with the service: “The power of ‘memories made’ has been a focus of personalised care planning, and the opportunity to make meaningful and healing memories, embracing the briefest footprint of a baby, is a key part of the offer made to families at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals. Each family is encouraged to make an individual plan for creating memories. This includes using the medical illustrations team to take professional-quality photographs of babies and their families.
“Families can celebrate and acknowledge their baby, and the team also encourage families to meet the baby. The specially designed Butterfly Suite is a private space for siblings, grandparents and close friends to be together, support each other, meet the baby and make restorative memories.”
Claire added: "I speak to families and staff about reducing trauma and making a connection with their baby. When people go through a bereavement, we grieve by telling stories, recalling memories, whether that's bathing your baby, taking hand and footprints, going for a walk, or taking baby home or to a special place. This approach can make saying goodbye less painful and less permanent because the memories are made and choices clear.”
