Welcome for Ninewells Hospital stillbirths unit
Mothers of stillborn babies welcomed the formal opening of the bereavement suite at Ninewells Hospital by broadcaster Sally Magnusson.
Ninewells Hospital.
- By Marjory Inglis, health reporter
- Published in the Courier : 06.09.10
- Published online : 06.09.10 @ 02.49pm
The bereaved mothers have campaigned for separate facilities where women going through a stillbirth can be sheltered from the sound of healthy babies being born but supported through the tragedy.
Their dream has now been realised with the provision of the TULIP suite — Tayside unit for loss in pregnancy — a sound-proofed unit adjacent to the labour suite.
The opening was bittersweet for those who successfully campaigned for the unit but for whom Sunday's formal occasion brought back memories of their lost babies.
Claire Bruce lost her son Cameron in 2008 and daughter Hope last year. Both babies were stillborn and she has since campaigned and raised money for SANDS — Tayside's stillbirth and neonatal death charity, which donated £6000 towards TULIP.
She said hearing the sound of other women in labour, and then the cry of a baby, was particularly difficult for her partner when she was in labour with her son.
Cheryl Fitzpatrick, chairman of SANDS, whose baby son Isaac was stillborn three years ago, said, "When I gave birth I could hear the baby next door crying and my baby was never going to cry and that was really heart wrenching but now we have this unit, mothers in a similar position will be secluded.
"This makes the best of a truly horrible situation."
Sally Magnusson, a mother of five children, settled her second youngest, Ross Stone, into university accommodation in Dundee before touring the new unit and officially opening it.
She told guests at the opening, "When he was born he suffered terrible foetal distress and had to be born in a very big hurry and didn't breathe for many long minutes and we thought we had lost that baby.
"I am grateful every day of his life that we got him but I count my blessings knowing not everybody is so fortunate."
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