The Lily Mae Foundation were delighted to be invited to the parliamentary launch of Baby Loss Awareness Week 2017 at the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday 11 October 2017 followed by a remembrance service for guests of the APPG on Baby Loss to be held in St Mary Undercroft, Westminster Hall, Houses of Parliament. The Lily Mae Foundation has been a member of the APPG on Baby loss since December 2016.Founded in February 2016, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Baby Loss brings together MPs and Peers from across parties to work on this vital issue.The APPG’s overall aims are to develop policy that supports families dealing with the grief and loss of a baby, and to raise awareness of what more can be done by the government, Parliament or other agencies to help those affected. The APPG officers are:
Co-Chair: Antoinette Sandbach MP
Co-Chair: Will Quince MP
Vice Chair: Victoria Prentis MP
Vice Chair: Sharon Hodgson MP
The group holds four meetings per year, and hears from expert speakers, identifies problems or opportunities in national policy around baby loss, and advocates in Parliament for the best quality of support for families affected by the loss of a baby. Led by the Sands, the APPG on Baby loss are working to produce a National Bereavement Care Pathway in collaboration with other charities and with the support of the Department of Health and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Baby Loss. The Parliamentary launch of Baby Loss Awareness Week 2017 had a very moving talk from Emma Kedge who shared her own story of Oscar, and we had talks from Philip Dunne MP (Minister of State for Health), Justin Madders MP (Shadow Health Minister), Will Quince MP and Antoinette Sandbach MP (Co-Chairs of the APPG on Baby Loss). Clea Harman (Chief Executive of Sands) also talked about BLAW and the National Bereavement Care Pathway. We look forward to continuing our work with the APPG in the future. Photo credit ‘Jennifer Moyes Photography’