A brave Perthshire mother hopes her efforts with the Scottish Cot Death Trust will make a difference to other parents’ lives and prompt officials to take note.
Linda Sterry from Braco beat 11,000 others to be given the chance to undertake a funded two-month placement with the charity, which came to her aid following the death of her toddler son.
Less than two years after little Gregor’s death, it was not an easy thing to do, but the 38-year-old knew her own experiences would allow her to understand what others were going through.
In the eight weeks Linda spent with the trust she designed, implemented, evaluated and reported on a survey for bereaved family members.
The objective was to gather information about people’s dealings with services such as the ambulance service, police and medical teams at the time of and in the aftermath of the death of their child.
The 100 respondents were “incredibly honest”, Linda explained, despite the experiences still being very raw.
She told The Courier, “I had a response rate of over 20% which is incredible considering I was asking bereaved family members to return in their minds back to the day their child died. I know myself that is a painful and emotionally exhausting process to go back over.”
Linda’s report should be made public by the trust in time and she hopes decision makers will sit up and listen.
“There was a sense that families genuinely understood the role of the police and in general valued honesty, empathy and open communication,” she added.
“One particular respondent said the police were ‘as kind as the law allowed’ I think that should be the aim of any police officer called to such a tragedy.
“However, it was also clear to me whilst evaluating the responses that there was absolutely no consistency of care and many who had a positive experience viewed themselves as lucky this just should not be the case.”
Continued…
“The experiences of health professionals such as health visitors, GPs and paediatricians were so varied and families generally found it helpful when these professionals didn’t abandon them.
“There will sadly be many health professionals reading this who will at some point in their career be faced with supporting a family whose child dies. My advice to them is to take time to actively listen to these families and not abandon them in their time of need. One baby dies every nine days in Scotland from cot death and it could be anyone’s baby.
“Far too many out there have been plunged into an abyss after losing a precious child. The Scottish Cot Death Trust does all it can but with limited government funding and the equivalent of just four-and-a-half full-time members of staff operating out of a tiny office in a Glasgow hospital, it needs more help.”
Linda, who has raised thousands for the trust with the help of husband Mark and son Ben (6) described the whole experience as “extraordinary” and “life-changing” and said that while she will never move on from Gregor’s untimely death the placement had helped her “knit” her grief into her daily life.
“I have had the most amazing journey it feels like far more than eight weeks. My son died two years ago and I was made redundant last year and have struggled with anxiety and self-confidence.
“When I walked into the induction day in Birmingham at the end of February with all those people there I was pretty terrified but I left at the end of that day with a spring in my step and a belief that I could do anything I wanted.
“My placement did not disappoint either. It’s rare that something that is so hyped up at the outset meets expectations, let alone exceeds them, but this most definitely did.”
Scottish Cot Death Trust executive director Fiona Brown said, “We are the only cot death charity in Scotland and for the past 26 years have funded research into the possible causes of cot death; supported bereaved families and played a vital role in increasing awareness and understanding of cot death.
“When a previously healthy child dies suddenly and unexpectedly, and for whom no cause of death can be found, the impact is one of utter devastation. But only someone who has experienced that devastation can fully understand how that feels.
“Therefore the survey, conducted by Linda, provides a vital insight into the needs of bereaved families and will provide the Scottish Cot Death Trust with the information needed to improve and develop our support services and also help us to work with the professionals involved when a child dies in the hope that we can improve how we deal with families to make a truly awful situation, a little less awful.
“Without the support from the Vodafone World of Difference programme we simply could not have afforded to undertake this piece of work and we are truly grateful to Linda for doing the work and to the families who responded so honestly and openly.”More information is available at www.scottishcotdeathtrust.org. You can also follow Linda’s blog at worldofdifference.vodafone.co.uk/blogs/linda-sterry/“The experiences of health professionals such as health visitors, GPs and paediatricians were so varied and families generally found it helpful when these professionals didn’t abandon them.
“There will sadly be many health professionals reading this who will at some point in their career be faced with supporting a family whose child dies. My advice to them is to take time to actively listen to these families and not abandon them in their time of need. One baby dies every nine days in Scotland from cot death and it could be anyone’s baby.
“Far too many out there have been plunged into an abyss after losing a precious child. The Scottish Cot Death Trust does all it can but with limited government funding and the equivalent of just four-and-a-half full-time members of staff operating out of a tiny office in a Glasgow hospital, it needs more help.”
Linda, who has raised thousands for the trust with the help of husband Mark and son Ben (6) described the whole experience as “extraordinary” and “life-changing” and said that while she will never move on from Gregor’s untimely death the placement had helped her “knit” her grief into her daily life.
“I have had the most amazing journey it feels like far more than eight weeks. My son died two years ago and I was made redundant last year and have struggled with anxiety and self-confidence.
“When I walked into the induction day in Birmingham at the end of February with all those people there I was pretty terrified but I left at the end of that day with a spring in my step and a belief that I could do anything I wanted.
“My placement did not disappoint either. It’s rare that something that is so hyped up at the outset meets expectations, let alone exceeds them, but this most definitely did.”
Scottish Cot Death Trust executive director Fiona Brown said, “We are the only cot death charity in Scotland and for the past 26 years have funded research into the possible causes of cot death; supported bereaved families and played a vital role in increasing awareness and understanding of cot death.
“When a previously healthy child dies suddenly and unexpectedly, and for whom no cause of death can be found, the impact is one of utter devastation. But only someone who has experienced that devastation can fully understand how that feels.
“Therefore the survey, conducted by Linda, provides a vital insight into the needs of bereaved families and will provide the Scottish Cot Death Trust with the information needed to improve and develop our support services and also help us to work with the professionals involved when a child dies in the hope that we can improve how we deal with families to make a truly awful situation, a little less awful.
“Without the support from the Vodafone World of Difference programme we simply could not have afforded to undertake this piece of work and we are truly grateful to Linda for doing the work and to the families who responded so honestly and openly.”More information is available at www.scottishcotdeathtrust.org. You can also follow Linda’s blog at worldofdifference.vodafone.co.uk/blogs/linda-sterry/