I'm pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this motion ahead of Baby Loss Awareness Week. No-one can underestimate the impact of pregnancy loss or the death of a baby. Feeling able or allowed to grieve can be incredibly difficult, particularly in the months and years after. One mother told me that special remembrance services bring such comfort because it's when families can allow their emotions to come out and commemorate the baby's life. Services will be taking place across Wales next week helping to bring together families who have experienced similar losses.

As today's motion sets out, it's crucial that families who are affected by pregnancy or baby loss can access appropriate services and support, and we've already heard that there's a disparity in access to services across Wales. In Newport we have some excellent support groups, and one of those is the Beresford pregnancy counselling centre. Staff at the centre provide free help, information and support to families across south Wales. As well as extreme distress, losing a baby or pregnancy can cause feelings of anger, resentment, anxiety, panic and sleeplessness. These feelings are all a normal part of grieving, and sessions allow parents to let off steam. The centre is a safe space for mothers and fathers that they so desperately need.

Immediate access to care and support will never ease parents' grief, but it can help them cope at a devastating time. I recently spoke to a mother who told me how she's incredibly grateful to staff at the Royal Gwent Hospital for how they looked after both her and her husband when they lost their baby. The sensitivity and genuine compassion shown to both parents will stay with them forever. Another mother told me that she didn't know how she'd have carried on if she hadn't already had a child.

The depth of feeling does not diminish over time. Not long ago I spoke with a couple who've just marked the fiftieth anniversary of their baby who was stillborn. While their baby will never be forgotten, they were only recently able to have a memorial made. The parents, who went on to have other children, have never forgotten their daughter who died. At the time, they were told to just get on with it and get over it, but they now feel more able to speak of their grief all these years later. I pay tribute to my colleague Dai Lloyd for his personal contribution today, which was so powerful.

It wasn't long ago that people didn't speak about pregnancy or baby loss. There are families and parents across Wales who have been silently grieving for decades. Raising awareness now should hopefully bring some comfort to families, although nothing will ever be able to take away that pain. It's important for mothers and fathers to have time to grieve and not feel they just have to carry on. Access to an excellent level of bereavement care for all parents after pregnancy loss or the death of a baby is crucial. 

The stillbirth and neonatal death charity, Sands, is there to help parents grieve and to support them through their darkest times. The Newport Sands group is run by bereaved parents who aim to help others going through similar tragedies that they have experienced themselves. Support packs and memory boxes are handed out at the monthly meetings, which, like those at the Beresford centre, are a safe space for bereaved parents. The bereavement suite at the Royal Gwent Hospital was funded by Sands, and this facility has been able to support many families. Sands are an incredibly dedicated group of volunteers who provide an invaluable service.

Whilst there's more support available to bereaved families now than previously, there's certainly more to do. In England and Scotland, health professionals and a group of baby loss charities have developed a new approach to improving bereavement services using a set of minimum standards. I hope that these can be adopted here in Wales. Improving the consistency and continuity of care for parents is crucial and I agree with the motion to adopt the national bereavement care pathway. This underlines the need for all NHS staff who come into contact with bereaved parents to receive bereavement care training and I hope this is something that NHS Wales will look to facilitate.

I urge Welsh Government to accept the proposals put forward in the motion today. They'll make a big difference to parents who have already been bereaved and also those who, sadly, will experience pregnancy and baby loss in the future. I hope to see many Members standing by bereaved parents, lighting a candle with Sands in the Pierhead next week. It's vital that those who need support always have access to the best possible care that can be offered.