New NICU bereavement room to allow parents to spend priceless time with their little ones
A brand new bereavement room for families to spend precious time alone with their child has been officially opened in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Royal Derby Hospital.
The Friends of the Baby Unit (FOBU) charity has raised £8,000 to help create a ‘Forget Me Not Room’, where families can create some priceless memories with their little ones in complete privacy, without having to leave the unit.
Parents can spend as long as they need in the room, which has been completely transformed from a clinical area to a home-from-home environment to help families in some small way by making them feel more comfortable.
The walls of the room have been adorned with beautiful artwork, as well as magnetic wallpaper that families can customise for themselves, but more than that, the room has been filled with a series of of little touches to make it feel like a truly safe space for parents to shut out the rest of the world.
Laura Mason sadly lost her son Oliver in 2017 and played a leading role in helping to design the room, which was opened on Sunday 11 October – a very special day for her on what would’ve been her son’s third birthday.
She said: “After losing my newborn son Oliver, I realised just how important those precious final days with your baby are. A comfortable and homely room where you can spend time with your baby is so important. You will remember that room for the rest of your life, so it is important that the room is somewhere that you can feel as relaxed as you can, in what is the worst time of your life.
“I really am so humbled that this room has been created with Oliver in everyone’s minds every step of the way, and I am so proud to have been a part of it. No parent should have to face the pain of losing their baby, but sadly this is something that does happen and I just hope that this room can bring parents a small amount of comfort.”
Baby Loss Awareness Week takes place from 9-15 October and focusses on raising awareness of this important issue, while giving bereaved families the opportunity to unite with others around the world to commemorate their baby’s lives.
Friends of the Baby Unit has raised more than £8,000 as part of NICU’s Forget Me Not Room project, with Derby-based company Firecatcher also working in partnership with UHDB’s arts charity Air Arts to bring the designs to life.
Kate Repton founded Friends of the Baby Unit and has spent over 44 years fundraising for life-saving equipment for the unit. Kate created the charity when her daughter Lucy sadly passed away in 1975 but promised to have a lasting legacy in her memory.
She said: “The Bereavement Room will always mean a great deal to me. My partner Rod and I didn’t speak about what happened to Lucy initially, but in the following year, I set the FOBU charity up in her name 1976, so that her memory would never be forgotten.
“When Laura and Sister Kate Jackson from the unit wanted to do the Bereavement Room in NICU, I was overjoyed. It’s such a compassionate thing for bereaved parents. If only this had been available for me and my family, we may have had more comfort in coming to terms with Lucy’s death.
“This room will give parents the time to grieve with their baby in a special room specifically made for them and hopefully that will give them comfort.”
Karen Sampson, NICU Senior Sister, added: “The loss of a baby is an absolute tragedy but it is sadly an experience that many parents still have to go through. It is so important that we are able to provide families with the support they need during such a difficult time, as well as offer a safe space for them to spend precious time alone with their child.
“This new room has been designed to create a home-from-home environment to hopefully help our bereaved families in some small way and allow them to make some priceless memories with their little ones that they can cherish forever. The Friends of the Baby Unit have made such a difference to our patients over the years and we are so grateful for their donation and for their continued support.”