Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:15 pm on 11 October 2022.
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?