Sands, stillbirth and neonatal death charity is very concerned that bereaved parents in the future may not be offered the opportunity to see and hold their baby after death. This is because current guidelines by NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) to midwifery units and to bereaved parents, on seeing and holding their baby after the baby has died, are currently open to misinterpretation.
This guideline (Clinical Guideline 45: Antenatal and postnatal mental health) consists of 4 different documents:
1. The full clinical guideline
2. Clinical management and service guidance
3. Quick reference guide
4. Information for people who use NHS services
In
each of these the wording is slightly but significantly different. The
current wording in the quick reference guide, which is specifically
aimed at policy makers and midwifery staff states: “Do not routinely
encourage mothers of infants who are stillborn or die soon after birth
to see and hold the dead infant.” This is very different from the
statement in the Full Clinical Guideline which reads ”women should not
be encouraged to hold their dead baby if they do not wish to.”
Sands
already has evidence that one Trust in England has adopted the wording
in the Quick reference guide as policy for staff. As a result we are
deeply concerned that this wording will be used by other Trusts across
the UK if confusion over the guidelines continues.
Sands
maintains that parents must continue to be offered choice about what is
done when their baby dies, and that in order for choice to be real, it
must be informed. Parents have a fundamental right to see their own
baby, and no health professional, however well meaning, has the right to
deny them this choice.
Thank you.
Support Sands campaign on seeing and holding baby after death Petition
We,
the undersigned, call on the National Institute for Health and Clinical
Excellence to revise the wording in three of the four documents that
make up the NICE Clinical Guideline 45: Antenatal and postnatal ...
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