Thanks to a generous contribution from 4Louis, a national charity supporting families through child loss, and the fundraising efforts of Siobhan and Ryan Dennis, we’ve recently been able to refurbish two bathrooms in the Rosemary Suite at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

The Rosemary Suite is a specialist bereavement suite, where midwives care for women and their families who have sadly suffered from pregnancy loss. Patients can include women who have miscarried, those who have suffered a stillbirth or babies who have died soon after birth.

For parents who have gone through the traumatic experience of losing their baby, having a safe and comfortable environment is so important and unfortunately, the two bathrooms on the ward had not been updated for quite some time and were unfit for purpose.

Staff on the ward recognised the need to create facilities suitable for all women, particularly for those who have experienced a difficult delivery. The old bathrooms only had baths, so women who would like to shower, had to use the shower room in the main non-bereavement delivery suite.

Pamela Irwin, Midwife on the Rosemary Suite said:

“We so grateful to everyone at 4Louis and to Siobhan and Ryan. The bathrooms have been transformed into a sleek and modern look from an old and dated style. Patients can now benefit from private ensuite shower facilities. Previously, if a patient wanted to shower, they would need to use the facilities in the main delivery suite and be exposed to women who had given birth to healthy babies. This had the potential to cause enormous distress at a time of great vulnerability.”

Now, thanks to donations, parents on the ward have access to modern wet rooms on the ward, which have been redecorated throughout, providing a bright and clean space to shower.

Before

After

4Louis, a charity based in Sunderland, made a remarkable donation of £11,860 towards this project. This generous gift meant the work was completed in a short space of time.

Siobhan Dennis, raised £3,800 for the refurbishment, after she spent time on the ward after her baby died, she said:

“When we were in the Rosemary Suite, it was such a welcoming, comforting, and relaxed environment for parents to spend time in what can only be described as a parent’s worst nightmare.  Sadly when the rooms were refurbished in early 2019, there was not enough funding to cover the  refurbishment of the original dated 80’s bathrooms.  The suites themselves have very much a hotel feel with the bathrooms providing a reminder of the clinical hospital environment patients are staying in.

My pledge from a very sad experience, was to bring a ray of sunshine from the rain and make the rooms the best they could be for any other families going through similar trauma.”