More Bereavement Training?

 As many of you know, bereavement care is one of my passions within midwifery, but it's also one of the ones I feel most pressured by, because it's so vitally important to get it right. Families have such a short period of time to make a lifetime of memories, and as a midwife caring for them in that time, it's such a privilege to be a small part of their lives, being one of the handful of individuals who have seen their precious baby. 

I have done a number of training days on the topic already, and for me, this is so important because we don't have much included as part of the core undergraduate degree. I've attended lots of Beyond Bea sessions, which is a charity I love, but when I came across another free training by Bereavement Training International, a specialty baby loss consultancy. 

Paula, who is the principal, is a psychotherapist, specialising in providing bereavement support following the death of a baby or child. She worked for more than ten years in the NHS, providing support to families and professionals, and was also appointed as bereavement counsellor, the first role of its kind in England.

Since 2008, Paula has designed and delivered training workshops for healthcare professionals whose work includes supporting families when a baby or child dies. Her areas of expertise include training staff to support families following pregnancy loss, stillbirth, neonatal death, sudden unexpected death, and when a twin dies. Her training covers specific subjects such as the impact on professionals, breaking bad news, communication skills, theories of grief, memory making, learning from families.

The training is free and start with context as to why the training is necessary, including updates on child death statistics, research, campaigns, new guidelines and protocols. With a maximum of 25 delegates per session, training is interactive, based on experience and observation, and draws on families’ lived experiences of child loss too. 

I can't wait to attend the training day at some point in the near future. Sadly, I had to cancel one due to a shift change, and another session due to a clash between the RCM Education Conference. The next few dates coming up, I am also on shift so fingers crossed it works out soon!