5. How is the Welsh Government supporting families who have suffered baby loss? OQ58551

Llywydd, the Welsh Government funds bereavement services in all parts of Wales, including specialist bereavement midwives, to help families in those uniquely distressing circumstances.

Diolch, Brif Weinidog. I know that this is a subject close to your heart, and that the Welsh Government already does a huge amount to support parents through what is an incredibly difficult time. I just wanted to raise the experiences of my constituents, whose baby was sadly stillborn at 40 weeks. They understandably requested a postmortem, but due to the gaps in paediatric pathology, they were advised that it would be a six-month wait until they received the results. This is an agonising wait.

My constituents said that it feels like their lives are on hold, and that an already difficult time is being made so much harder to navigate. Two important aspects of grieving are being able to process what happened, while also being able to look to the future. With so many unanswered questions still remaining, the delay in getting the postmortem results is making both of these things very difficult. Parents are understandably desperate to know as much as they can. What is the Welsh Government doing to address recruitment and retention in this area, and what further support can be given to parents after the devastating loss of their baby?

Well, Llywydd, I'm very glad to be able to sponsor, once again, Baby Loss Awareness Week activities here in the Senedd next week. These are among the most devastating experiences that families can experience. We have discussed them on a number of occasions here on the floor of the Senedd. Some people here will remember, I think, one of the most memorable contributions in the time that I have been here, when Dr Dai Lloyd set out for us the experience of his family in losing their son, Huw, 40 minutes after he was born. It was one of the most powerful contributions I have ever heard here in the Senedd.

When you reach a time, as I have, when you have grandchildren to think about as well, then every moment is precious with them, and any thought that they might come to harm is constantly somewhere in the back of your mind. So, families who find themselves in the awful circumstances that Jayne Bryant described need all of the help that the system is able to give them, including the help that comes from paediatric pathology.

At the beginning of September, the Welsh Health Specialist Services Committee met. It has made a decision to employ an additional permanent provider for paediatric pathology. It has negotiated the use of additional capacity at Alder Hey Hospital, so that some families in north Powys and north Wales will receive their paediatric pathology services there. That will release further capacity into the Welsh system. And WHSSC is also committed to an assessment of its investment in the Cardiff service, to make sure that it is capable of meeting the needs of families in a timely way.