Sonographers and the National Bereavement Care Pathway

Published: 19 March 2018 Children

A project to improve the overall quality of bereavement care for parents and families whose baby has died before, during or shortly after birth, is being extended to include 21 more NHS trusts across England, in addition to the 11 which pioneered the programme.

"Sonographers should be aware of their role in the National Bereavement Care Pathways," according to Nigel Thomson, the Society's professional officer for ultrasound.

"The pathways include early pregnancy loss, termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly, as well as including good practice guidelines for topics such as communication of ‘bad news’ and retention of images," Nigel continued.

Clea Harmer, chair of the NBCP Core Group, said: “It is vital to offer consistently excellent bereavement care and support to anyone who has lost a child or pregnancy, and that’s why we are testing the effectiveness of the pathway in such a wide range of settings.”

For further information on the proposals, please contact Nigel Thomson.