The Ulster Hospital’s Forget Me Not Focus Group, set up within Maternity Services to bring together parents who have experienced the death of a child or baby, hosted its annual Wreath Making workshop at West Church, Bangor.
A wonderfully, warm welcome met all parents who attended as mum Jude English described the event, “As a such a lovely opportunity to get together with other parents who had lost babies or children, in a safe environment.”
“After last year’s event, I was really looking forward to coming along,” said Jude. “Under the guidance of the very talented Tracey, we were walked through how to decorate our wreaths with bows, pine cones, berries and orange slices, whilst trying to avoid the holly prickles! I loved that we could add personalised hearts to our wreaths, if we chose, with our child’s name.”
Jude added how well she and the rest of the families were looked after at West Church with tea, coffee and, “delightful mince pies and shortbread treats.”
“All in all, it was a wonderful start to the Christmas period, which can often be a bit tough for families like ours. It’s really fantastic that the group arranges this special night, and I’m looking forward to next year already.”
Bereavement Midwives at the Ulster Hospital Susan Stitt and Jacqueline Dorrian explained how the event was an opportunity, “To bring parents together to make connections.”
“We know that Christmas can be a very difficult time for our bereaved parents and that some are trying to navigate their grief journey. This event gave our parents an opportunity to create a wreath in memory of their baby within a safe environment surrounded by parents that understand.”