New suite to enable bereaved parents grieve in privacy
A maternity bereavement suite has been approved for the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar, and the HSE is aiming at seeking tenders for the work before the end of this year.
According to Declan Lyons, CEO of the Ireland East Hospital Group, funding has been agreed, a location identified and preliminary drawings prepared.
The announcement was made at the monthly meeting of the Regional Health Forum, where the subject was raised by Cllr Hazel Smyth.
Cllr Smyth, a Green Party representative, told the Westmeath Examiner this week that she had been deeply surprised when she learned some months ago that at present within Mullingar hospital, parents coping with miscarriage, stillbirth or the premature death of a newborn baby can often have to bear this grief while in a shared ward.
“This is very badly needed, and hopefully it will be a great facility for those who are experiencing those very difficult times,” she said.
“It is important to be able to have the comfort of being in private and of being able to go through that grief privately rather than being in a ward with a lot of other people.”
Cllr Smyth added that for those dealing with such tragic loss, it is especially difficult to attempt to attempt to reconcile themselves with the bereavement when surrounded by other mothers and partners who are taking delight in the company of their newborn babies and elated after the birth.
Five years ago, Cllr Smyth and her family found themselves dealing with the devastating news of the death of Cllr Smyth’s sister Jenna in a road traffic accident.
She still recalls vividly the pain and grief the entire family found themselves going through and it has left her with an understanding of how great is the need for privacy at such a time: “You really want somewhere when you’re in that kind of shock, where you at least have the benefit of being able to go through it without being in front of a lot of other people.
“You don’t want strangers walking past and looking at you when you’re receiving that sort of traumatic news.”
Meanwhile, Cllr Smyth said that high on her list of priorities going forward is progress on the re-purposing of the main St Loman’s Hospital building and refurbishment of the older sections of St Mary’s Hospital
“With mental health issues, we are all becoming aware of the need for better facilities,” she said, adding that she understood that it had been intended that St Loman’s be modernised for use as a state of the art mental health facility.