Hospital Trust receives generous donation for bereaved families

Charities working to support Muslim families following the loss of a baby have donated one hundred care packs to The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Blackburn UK Trust and Maggie’s Stillbirth Legacy have partnered to produce bespoke packages which include; a 100% cotton shroud, a prayer mat, prayer beads, ‘scent of heaven’ fragrance and an Islamic faith book on the subject of grief.

The packs aim to offer solace to families who have tragically lost a new-born baby through miscarriage, stillbirth or complications with pregnancy during or just after giving birth.

Sarah Bernasconi founded the Maggie’s Stillbirth Legacy after her baby daughter, Maggie Pearl, was stillborn in 2015. She said: “No parent should go through the pain of losing their child but for those who do, we’ve provided something to help.

“It’s very, very important to me to raise awareness of stillbirth and the more I can do to help, the stronger and longer Maggie’s legacy will be.”

Blackburn UK Trust volunteer, Najma Patel, who tragically lost her son, Adil, worked with Sarah to put the care packs together. Najma said “We hope to help families at this difficult time when they are most in need of support. I would have welcomed this support and I hope this gesture can help them through the grieving process.”

Keith Ramsay, Chairman of The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We are extremely grateful to Blackburn UK Trust and to Maggie’s Stillbirth Legacy for this very generous donation. A donation in memory of someone special is a positive way to celebrate their life and is always very much appreciated by our teams who are dedicated to providing the best quality care to our patients.”