We understand that making the impossible decision to end a much-wanted pregnancy is devasting and the grief left behind following a termination for medical reasons (TFMR or TOPFA) can be extremely complex. Unfortunately, there are many reasons why parents might be faced with making the difficult decision to end or carry on with a pregnancy after their baby has been diagnosed with a worrying condition. Often foetal anomalies are highlighted during a routine scan and at that point families are referred to the hospital foetal medicine specialists for more information.
Nothing can truly prepare anyone when faced with the news that there is something gravely wrong with their baby or they have been diagnosed with a genetic condition which may be severely life limiting and life altering. To make sure you get answers to the questions you may have, it can help, at the point of diagnosis, to talk with others who can offer advice or more information. To aid this, we work collaboratively with the charity ARC (Antenatal Results and Choices) which specialises in supporting families who find themselves in this position. More details of the charity and their support can be found here http://www.arc-uk.org/.
It’s important for parents who have experienced a TFMR loss to be able to speak to others who have had to make a similar decision during pregnancy and by working collaboratively with ARC we are able to give parents the opportunity to talk with others who understand how difficult this path can be. Our Held In Our Hearts & ARC online support group meets every 3 to 4 months and are a warm, welcoming safe space to speak with others who understand. All our general support groups are open to TFMR parents as well and we encourage them to take the opportunity to come along to our community events and engage with peer support and possibly counselling. TFMR is no less of a loss and there is an equal place within our community for parents who are living with this devastating grief.
We also have peer support workers who have lived experience of TFMR loss and where possible we will try to match up parents with one of these members of our team.
Furthermore, we can offer support to parents ahead of them having to go through with the TFMR process, reaching in early with support so they can feel held and heard from the very start of their journey.
You do not have to go through this alone.
