Data are transcripts based on qualitative interviews with parents, one set of grandparents and professionals. Professional data relate to interviews with a range of occupational groups including: midwives, pathologists, coroners, obstetricians, neonatologists, anatomical pathology technicians (APTs), police officers, medical illustrators, nurses, hospital chaplains and bereavement support officers. Parent data include transcripts from interviews with parents who had experienced late miscarriage, termination of pregnancy, stillbirth, sudden infant death, SIDS and other forms of neonatal death. One parent provided a written statement because they didn't want to be interviewed & one parent did not want us to disclose large parts of her transcripts. This interview does not appear in ReShare. All transcripts have been completely anonymised. Participant, hospital & place names have all been changed. Any potentially identifying features have been totally anonymised or left blank to protect & ensure the confientiality of participants.End of’ or ‘start of’ life? was a 30-month project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council 2015-2018. The project sought to explore the emerging use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in post-mortem practice, examining the ways in which MRI has the potential to transform the practice of traditional post-mortem, leading to the development of a less invasive examination. The project focused on exploring early life loss (pre and neonatal death) which falls at the intersections of both the ‘start of’ and ‘end of’ life. Using in-depth interviews with parents and go-along interviews and tours with professionals the aims of the project were twofold: To understand how parents/ families who have experienced early life loss feel about, and experience, the (MRI) post-mortem process and to explore the impact of this new technological application on professional practice, and relationships between professionals from different fields The project included a focus on parents’ and professionals’ experiences of different types of post-mortem examination including: minimally invasive (MIA), coronial (post-mortem ordered by the coroner) and hospital (consented post-mortem). We also included the experiences of those who have declined a post-mortem examination. As part of the project, we also aimed to explore different types of loss including early/late miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death, and sudden infant death (SIDS). We used the findings of this research to create Remembering Baby- a collaborative art exhibition which toured the UK in 2017-18 and accompanying website (https://www.rememberingbaby.co.uk/ ) . This exhibition and underpinning research helped to create a voice for bereaved parents and fostered the development of support communities across the UK. It has empowered local and national charities, leading to changes in creative bereavement support practices. It has helped to fill a gap in training for health professionals on post-mortem consent and bereavement support and led to changes in bereavement support services and clinical practice in several NHS trusts. Through extensive media coverage it has also raised public awareness about the taboo subject of baby loss, and, in 2019 was awarded the ESRC Outstanding Societal Impact prize due to the substantial impact achieved.

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