Bereaved parents to benefit from new care standards

Parents whose child has died during pregnancy or before reaching full term are set to benefit from crucial new national standards in the wake of a series of scandals in the system.

Health Minister Simon Harris and HSE director general Tony O’Brien will launch the new “standards for bereavement care following pregnancy loss and perinatal death” at an event this morning in a bid to address a lack of uniformity in how families affected by the personal tragedies are treated by hospitals.

Under the current system, hospitals provide varying degrees of bereavement counselling to an estimated 14,500 grieving parents who have suffered a stillbirth or seen their child days moments after pregnancy.