A Conservative MP who lost her baby at 20 weeks says the after-care support being given to bereaved parents needs to improve.
Cherilyn Mackrory terminated her pregnancy after a scan showed her daughter Lily was suffering from a rare form of spina-bifida.
In an emotional interview with GB News, the mother-of-one said the tragedy illustrated to her the additional counselling services which are needed to help others suffering the same ordeal.
She told Gloria De Piero: “When I joined the all-party group for baby loss as a brand-new MP, the reason I went was because of the way my husband and I were looked after in the hospital.
The Truro and Falmouth MP spoke in the Commons last year about her loss
GB News
“But, and this is no fault of theirs, where things were lacking afterwards, was the follow-up counselling. We relied on charities.
"I was given some counselling through my work. But my husband was never given a date when he could go in and talk about what had happened with any of the bereavement counsellors at the hospital. I think it was a resource thing.
“I don’t want the men to be forgotten in this. Everybody always asks how mum is getting on, and there's still a feeling that dad should be there to support mum. And it was my very strong feeling that, actually, both parents needed to be supported equally.”
The Truro and Falmouth MP, who spoke in the Commons last year about her loss, is now calling on all hospitals to adopt as mandatory the National Bereavement Care Pathway to help grieving parents.
She continued: “At the all party group we had over 50 people sitting in the room. And they talked about the National Care Bereavement Pathway, which is what we had obviously experienced very successfully in Cornwall. But it's not in every trust. It's not mandated to be in every trust.
"So, what I would like to do is mandate that for every trust and I'd like to see every trust coming forward to say that they now have that in place, so that all parents get cared for in the same way that we did.
“So that's number one. Number two, we just need to have more staff in the maternity area, and more specialist staff in the maternity area, so that when things do go wrong, parents are listened to and their wishes are carried out.”
Commenting on the Government's target to halve the rate of stillbirths and neonatal deaths by 2025 she continued: “We had an inquiry last year, where we were about halfway through and they were on track, which was great news. But it’s staffing, staffing, staffing. It's about retention, it's about looking after your staff. It's a vocation to be a midwife, it's certainly a vocation to be a bereavement midwife.
GB News
"It's one of the hardest jobs that people can do, and very special people do it. So, we need to give them all the support we can.
In an emotional interview, Ms Mackrory told GB News about the moment she lost her baby during her 20-week scan.She said: “I lay there, and they put the gel on and there was a big pause, and you think, ‘Oh crikey,’ you know, ‘Hopefully they’re just finding out what’s happening’. And then he said the words I won’t ever forget which are, ‘Something’s not right’, and you just freeze actually, you freeze.”
Doctors later broke the news her daughter Lily was suffering from a severe form of spina bifida and and it was decided that the pregnancy would be terminated. The following day she delivered her baby.
Describing the anguish she went through Ms Mackrory added: “The midwife handed me my baby, and I spoke to her for a little bit, and I gave her a kiss, and I still didn't know she was a girl, actually. And then I said goodbye. And I'll never forget the midwife, she just said, ‘Is it okay if I take your baby outside to look at the stars?’, which made her feel like a real person actually. So, when we talk about the NHS staff, that is the kindness that we're dealing with, and I'll never, ever forget it.”
