The Ocean Pearl Suite is a Maternity Bereavement unit that has just opened at Hillingdon Hospital. The idea came from Jo Dunckley - the Labour ward manager, who knew the benefits of such a facility from working in a previous hospital. This Suite however is unique. The key features were specified by women who have gone through the tragically sad experience of giving birth to a sleeping baby. The suite has: a delivery room where with a sofabed; an en-suite shower room; a midwife base where the midwife can be on hand when needed; a self-contained lounge with a visitor toilet and further sofabed for family staying over; a kichenette with microwave and fridge; a cottage garden with garden furniture; and a separate entrance/exit away from the Maternity entrance/exit. The suite is soundproofed so that live babies in Maternity cannot be heard.
The suite has taken 2 years to build at a cost of £400k of which the Charity has raised half the funding and the Trust half. The Charity has also secured funding for Petals Bereavment Counselling. Each family who take up the counselling will receive 6 specialist counselling sessions followed by a further 6 when they fall pregnant again.
