Famecrawler
Sarah Parish Opens Up About Loss Of Daughter
Sarah Parish recently spoke out about the death of her eight-month-old baby daughter.
Her daughter Ella-Jayne was diagnosed with the condition a hole in her heart in-utero and lived for 8 months. She had two operations immediately after birth and spent four months in intensive care, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t well loved.
“We took her to see my family in Yeovil and James’s family up north. She had a great Christmas and was very happy. This was something that the hospital gave us that was so precious.”
“Being in hospital with a very sick child is a very frightening and stressful time. There needs to be someone on hand to take the families aside and answer practical questions and offer emotional support. Having a counsellor would definitely have helped us.”
I’m really surprised that something like that isn’t offered in more places.
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3 Comments
GGsmamas commented on Jul 14 09 at 11:53 amThere are specialists who do just that- they are called Child Life Specialists- and they are working nationwide and globally (visit http://www.childlife.org for more info).
ceecee commented on Jul 14 09 at 12:59 pmWhat condition did the baby have? (The above post just says “the condition.” My baby died after seven months of intensive care (and was diagnosed w/ severe heart anomalies in utero) so I am curious about other situations like this. My sympathies go to the family. Oh – we used Child Life extensively during our hospital time. My son was at the Children’s Hospital – perhaps that makes a difference in family service offerings? (I don’t have much experience w/ conventional hospitals.)
Trix commented on Jul 14 09 at 3:01 pmI updated the post with her condition. She was born with a hole in her heart. Also the hospital is the Southampton General Hospital. I searched their site and only saw bereavement counseling. No counseling while the child is ill.
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