FAMILIES suffering from pregnancy or baby loss can now access personalised counselling support thanks to a new hospital initiative on Teesside.
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust recently employed its first specialist bereavement counsellor to deliver one-to-one maternity bereavement counselling to bereaved families being cared for on the central delivery suite at The James Cook University Hospital.
Francesca McDougall joined the bereavement team at James Cook in December 2024, following generous donations from Our Hospitals Charity, the fundraising arm of South Tees Hospitals.
Within her role, she works closely with specialist bereavement midwife, Tracy Pickersgill and the wider bereavement midwife teams at James Cook to ensure that families are aware of the support that is available to them.
Tracy leads the bereavement service at South Tees Hospitals. She said:
Francesca's role is a fantastic addition to our existing bereavement service.
“Previously, there was no face-to-face counselling provision available in the local area, however thanks to generous donations from Our Hospitals Charity, local businesses and families affected by baby loss, we can now provide specialist support beyond discharge to the families that we care for.”
Meet Francesca
Francesca hopes to provide families with a safe space to offload and each session is designed to meet their individual needs.
The sessions can be delivered either face-to-face, on TEAMS or over the telephone and families can access as many sessions as they need.
She said: “Within my career, I have enjoyed working both in bereavement and with families and the role of maternity bereavement counsellor blends both of these roles.
Currently, there isn’t a local service offering maternity bereavement counselling in the timeframe that we can offer but within my new role, families will be able to access specialist support during one of the most difficult times of their lives, for as long as they need too.
“I cannot thank the bereavement team at South Tees enough for welcoming me in with open arms and to Our Hospitals Charity for making all of this possible.”
Improving maternity bereavement services
Francesca’s role is part of a wider campaign to improve maternity bereavement services across the trust.
Lisa Meehan, fundraising manager for Our Hospitals Charity said: “We launched our fundraising campaign at the end of 2021, after realising just how much we could improve things for our patients, even during the most difficult of circumstances.
“Since then, we have we have met lots of families who have sadly suffered the loss of a baby and who have been instrumental in helping us to raise enough money to improve our maternity bereavement services.
“From charity balls and sponsored walks, they have done it all and despite their own grief, helped us to raise over £120,000.
“Francesca’s role is a huge addition to the bereavement team and will be a huge benefit to so many, as sadly, baby loss affects so many people.
Thanks to the amazing amount raised through generous donations, we have been able to offer more specialised support to families who sadly leave hospital without their baby."