Difficult news about your baby’s health can come at any time, including during pregnancy and after the birth.
We offer a dedicated service just for families whose baby has been diagnosed with a life-shortening condition. So even before your baby is welcomed into the world, we’re here to support you if you discover there’s a problem. More than anything, we want to help you feel like a family and to know you are not alone.
Pregnancy and birth are huge events at the best of times, but when there’s a problem then things can feel unpredictable and scary. We’ll help you make the right decisions for you, and if things should take a turn for the worse, or if you just need some reassurance, we can always be reached. Then again, if things turn out better than you feared, we’ll still be here to share those memories with you.
Understanding & planning
Sometimes, families have to face an unexpected scan result in the space of about 15 minutes. It’s not enough to try and absorb information, ask all of your questions, or start coming to terms with a different future. So we’re here to help the whole family make sense of what you’ve been told. Perhaps you’d like someone to try and explain all of the jargon and long words in a way that makes some sort of sense. We’ll help you start preparing for whatever lies ahead, including writing a care plan for your pregnancy and delivery, which you will be able to share with everyone involved– including your GP and consultants.
Difficult decisions during pregnancy
There may come a time, perhaps at a scan, when you discover that there’s a serious problem. If you decide to continue with your pregnancy regardless of the likely lifespan, health or disability of your child, then we’ll also support you throughout. We’ll also help you deal with other people’s responses to whatever your decision may be.
Co-ordinating all the hospital stuff
You’ll probably have a lot more scans and start seeing a lot of specialists, which can be overwhelming. So we can co-ordinate all of that for you and even go with you to appointments. You might want us to be there at the birth, or to take you and your baby home afterwards. After the birth you can choose to come here to Russell House afterwards, to recover peacefully and at your own pace. We can make sure your other children are well-looked after during this time, too.
Celebrating your baby
Whatever the likely outcome for your baby, we can help you mark your pregnancy, celebrate the child you’re about to bring into the world, and help you to properly feel like a mum or dad. We can join in with counting down the days and get excited with you when you feel everyone else around you may not be. We can capture the sound of your baby’s heartbeat in the womb, and set it to music. We’ll help you to create very precious memories right from pregnancy, just as anyone would.
Emotional & practical support
During pregnancy, or in learning to care for your baby, there may be dark moments when you just feel you can’t cope – but there’s always someone at the end of a phone here. You might need some practical support: keeping a sibling entertained while you have a break or helping you tackle the endless paperwork surrounding your baby's condition. We’re here for all of this and more. Whenever and wherever you need us, just ask.
If the worst should happen
If your baby dies before, during or shortly after their birth, we’ll step in and wrap our arms around your whole family. We’ll offer you support and care, as well as use of our
Snowflake Suite for as long as possible. We also offer very effective
bereavement support for your family.
Just get in touch
If you need someone to talk to, or to hold your hand and prove you don't have to do this alone, call us on 01484 411040 or email care@forgetmenotchild.co.uk