UMHL Remembrance Service for Families Who Have Experienced Loss

Pictured ahead of the annual remembrance service at UMHL were Rita O’Brien, CMM2 Bereavement and Loss; Noreen Mann, CMM1; Marie Hunt, CMM2 Bereavement Counselling Midwife; Eileen Broderick, Healthcare Assistant, Dr. Asma Nosherwan, Consultant Neonatologist and Margo Dunworth, CMM3, Neonatal Unit. Picture: Alan Place

UMHL Remembrance Service for Families Who Have Experienced Loss

University Maternity Hospital Limerick holds its UMHL remembrance service at the Church of the Holy Rosary, Ennis Road, Limerick on Sunday, November 18th, 2018 at 3 pm.

Parents who have experienced the death of their baby/pregnancy loss at any stage, together with their family, friends and hospital staff, are all welcome to attend this service.

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The UMHL remembrance service is an annual event organised by the Bereavement Support Department and midwifery staff at UMHL. Families are very welcome to stay after the service for a chat and a cup of tea.

Speaking ahead of the service, Marie Hunt, Clinical Midwife Specialist Bereavement and Loss, UMHL, said: “The death of a baby is recognised as one of the most difficult bereavements in life and something which has a lifelong impact on parents and families”.

“The service is an annual event which aims to acknowledge the pregnancies that were lost and the lives of babies who have died through ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death. They welcome parents and families whose babies may have died many years ago as well as those more recently bereaved.  

“Perinatal grief is a unique experience as parents grieve for their longed-for babies and the hopes and dreams they had for them. The annual remembrance service is a very special event which brings parents and families together in their grief and acknowledges the short lives of their babies.

“Staff at University Maternity Hospital Limerick witness the deep grief and sadness felt by parents who have been told their baby has died.   The remembrance service provides a space for staff, the parents and extended families to reflect on the love and care they have shown to families who are bereaved and to acknowledge and express their own grief and sadness for the little lives that were lost,” said Ms. Hunt.

“Please join us on November 18th to acknowledge and celebrate the babies who had short lives but left a lasting impression of love in our lives,” she added.

They ask that those attending the service show sensitivity to newly bereaved families by using the quiet space available for crying babies/young children.

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