Plans to refresh suites for bereaved parents
BBCA couple who set up a dedicated space for grieving parents after their own daughter was stillborn said they had "a massive feeling of relief" to know people no longer go through what they did.
Michelle and Richard Daniels, from Nottinghamshire, founded baby loss charity Forever Stars in 2014 to support bereaved families after Emily was stillborn at 40 weeks.
The charity raised £280,000 to fund two bereavement suites at the Queens Medical Centre (QMC) and Nottingham City Hospital, to give families a dedicated, peaceful space to begin to process their loss.
Since then more than 2,600 families have used the Serenity Suites but the charity now wants to raise £50,000 to upgrade the rooms.
Michelle said the loss of her baby girl was "very unexpected" and she did not know until the latter stages of labour that Emily had died.
After her stillbirth, Michelle said she was moved to a room on the labour ward which she remembers as "a very traumatic place to be".
"We were right near to the main doors to the labour suite," she said.
"Hearing those doors go, every time I was preparing myself for the noise of a woman in labour, the cries of a newborn baby.
"One of the worst things was hearing a father outside my room, ringing his family to tell them that he'd just had a baby girl, as I sat there with my own daughter."
The couple raised £180,000 to open the Serenity Suite at the QMC in April 2016, and raised a further £100,000 to open a second at Nottingham City Hospital in December 2017.
The rooms provide bereaved families with a quiet space away from busy maternity wards, where families can begin their grieving process.
Rebecca Soundy's son Noah was stillborn at 23 weeks at the QMC in 2019.
The 40-year-old, from Stapleford, said staying at the Serenity Suite meant Noah was able to be placed in a cold cot, a specialist piece of equipment which prolonged the time she and her husband Daniel were able to spend with him.
"We could cuddle him," said Rebecca. "I changed him and dressed him in the clothes that I wanted him to leave here in.
"We got to spend those times together as mum and dad with him and make some little memories.
"We used the garden space and came out and I showed him the sky and things like that because we knew our time with him was limited.
"You try and fit a lifetime of memories into just those couple of days."
Rebecca now supports the charity and recruits new volunteers because she said the dedicated, quiet rooms were so important.
"I don't want other families to not have this space and not have the support. There is so much support Forever Stars offers," she said.
Forever Stars trustee Laura Barnett's son Harrison was stillborn at 36 weeks in 2016.
She said using the Serenity Suite made "a huge difference" and it was a "really valuable space".
"You always assume you're going to have your baby and take them home," she said.
"We knew that wasn't going to happen. We just needed that time to be able to say goodbye."
Beeston-based Forever Stars has been awarded The King's Award for Voluntary Service and has raised more than £900,000 to support bereaved families.
Its Decade of Serenity campaign is now looking to raise money to upgrade the Serenity Suites so they can continue to provide "the best space possible" for bereaved families.
Plans include redecorating, buying new furniture, improving facilities and appliances, as well as refurbishing the outdoor garden space.
Richard said: "The Serenity Suites offer more than just a room. They provide a peaceful environment where families can spend precious time with their baby and create memories that will last a lifetime.
"To know that, because of Forever Stars, other families now have that choice and that space means more to us than words can express. It is Emily's legacy."
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