Education

We are involved with training and education including midwives, student midwives, nursing, medical students as well as organisations in the statutory and private sectors

Education

We are involved in many training and education sessions within the hospitals that we support, St John’s, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Borders General Hospital, as well as local Universities.  We believe training and education is the key to making sure families receive the best support at the time their baby dies and it is essential that professionals are given the training to explore how best to support parents at this devastating time.

We are also involved in teaching sessions with 4th year medical students at Edinburgh University. This is an extremely valuable insight into the experience of perinatal death for the medical students. A bereaved parent shares their story during this session which the students find very moving and insightful.  Please email or call the office on 0131 622 6263 if you would like to be involved in this training.

We also offer students midwife placements as part of their final year studies. During this time, students attend our monthly group meetings to chat to families; meet parents one to one with a range of different experiences; visit local crematoriums and speak to staff from NHS Lothian, pathology and mortuary to gain as much insight as they can to provide the best care to families when they are qualified.

We offer small information sessions for Adult Nursing Students whilst on placement to gain an overview of the services we offer and during their visit, we will share with them a parent’s story and discuss the impact baby loss has.  Please email or call us on 0131 622 6263 to organise a visit.

Email info@heldinourhearts.org.uk
Call Us On 0131 622 6263

“Thank you again for such a fantastically valuable placement with yourselves. We are very appreciative of all the work you put in to arranging such important and informative learning opportunities and experiences for us during our time with you. It was such a pleasure getting to know you and all your lovely staff. Thank you for looking after us and making us feel so welcome. It was a privilege to meet the courageous families at the groups and one-to-one meetings and listen to them sharing their journeys and hear about their precious babies. It really makes a difference hearing these stories first hand rather than reading about them as case studies, and thanks to them, we have learnt such a lot regarding what is important in their journeys and the care and support they receive, which will be invaluable to our future practice and the bereaved families we care for along the way. The combination of meetings with parents, groups, and visits to the crematorium, mortuary, funeral seminar, conference days etc was a really interesting and helpful mixture of learning opportunities for us. Although it has been hard, and emotionally exhausting at times, I would not change any of the opportunities we’ve had as they have provided a very rounded experience overall.”
Nikki Thomson – 3rd year student midwife

Training

Our CEO, Nicola, is involved in national level policy work, chairing the NHS Lothians Multi-Agency Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support Group, as well as sitting on the Scottish Government Stillbirth and Bereavement sub group and the Burial and Cremations Committee. She has recently become the Chair for the Parent Advisory Group for Scotland for the National Bereavement Care Pathway. Nicola is also working with the Scottish Government on Best Start Food vouchers, Best Start vouchers and funeral poverty.

We are also offer bespoke training for organisations to help them understand the journey bereaved parents face before and after their return to work, to provide the
knowledge and confidence to best support them compassionately in the workplace.

Email info@heldinourhearts.org.uk
Call Us On 0131 622 6263
training