Those going through the agony of stillbirth now have a sympathetic and secluded area of Ninewells Hospital to have their baby and grieve in private.
No longer do they have to wait in a busy labour suite watching the happy arrival of healthy babies, knowing their own baby has no heartbeat and will be delivered dead.
More like a private hotel suite with discreet medical venues, the Tayside Unit for Loss in Pregnancy to be known as the TULIP room has been provided with the help of charitable donations.
Everywhere there are reminders that the TULIP room was designed and fitted out in consultation with families who have been through the experience of stillbirth and know what might help those who follow in their footsteps.
The local branch of the stillbirth charity SANDS has provided memory boxes, where bereaved parents can place tiny footprints and other mementos of their infant.
The charity has also provided a number of emergency toiletry bags.
“Women can arrive totally unprepared because they weren’t expecting to be admitted to hospital and they can end up being here for several days,” said Chrissie Hastings, a senior midwife at Ninewells.
She said that pregnant women may go to their doctor or midwife because they stop feeling their baby moving in the womb.
If they listen and find no foetal heartbeat, the woman is sent to Ninewells for an ultrasound scan to confirm there is no heartbeat.
In these cases labour is induced and the woman and her partner have to go through the birth process knowing there will be no happy ending.
The prolonged nature of the agony prompted the drive to provide a private area where couples have separate facilities, avoiding contact with joyous new parents and the sound of healthy, crying babies.
The TULIP room includes comfortable sofas, a kitchen and shower room as well as a £6000 specialist delivery bed for the pregnant women that was provided by donations.
Mrs Hastings said the bulk of the money donated to the suite has come from funeral donations.
“A lot of these babies have proper private funerals and there is a collection afterwards,” she said.
Larger donations have come through fund-raising efforts from charities such as SANDS.
The most recent donation was made by a woman who celebrated her 40th birthday and asked friends to donate money to the TULIP room after her friend’s baby was stillborn at Ninewells.
Midwives from maternity units all over Tayside and Fife visited the new suite, along with paediatricians and other staff, to view the facilities.
A second open afternoon is to be held on August 5 for which there is an open invitation to those who have made donations towards the provision of the TULIP room, in particular those associated with SANDS.
“We realise lots of people have contributed very kindly to this cause and they will be welcome between 2pm and 4pm on August 5,” said Mrs Hastings.