Congratulations Sangeeta!
Congratulations to Sangeeta Agnihotri, a consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician here at Newham Hospital who won a National award for her work in the area of baby loss and bereavement care on 2nd October.
Founded in 2018, the Saying Goodbye Awards are held each year by the Mariposa Trust, a leading support charity that helps families through their journey of baby loss and bereavement. The awards honour midwives, nurses, bereavement midwives, doctors and community members who go above and beyond in the care and support they provide for those who have experienced baby loss.
Sangeeta won the Compassion Award for her hard work and dedication in establishing, developing and running the baby loss bereavement service at Newham Hospital and raising awareness and teaching about the topic. She was nominated by a group of trainee doctors, midwives and bereaved mothers. “I feel humbled and honoured to have been nominated and privileged to be a part of the journey of mothers at this most difficult time”, says Sangeeta. “It was a lovely surprise, as way winning!”
The service Sangeeta runs with her team offers support, debriefs and counselling to mothers who have experienced the loss of their baby, whether it be a miscarriage or a still birth. Tests are also arranged to try and establish the cause of the loss, and to offer support in moving forwards, particularly in relation to becoming pregnant again in the future. And they work hard to destigmatise this whole topic.
“Even in 2021, it’s still taboo to talk about miscarriages and still births”, says Sangeeta. “Through this service, we aim to change this by having honest conversations with these women and their partners. By listening to them and working through their feelings, we aim to offer immediate and long term support. And we strive to reassure them this is not their fault – the sense of guilt and self-blame that many of these women feel is heart-breaking and we want to change this.”
Before Covid-19 hit, Sangeeta and her team did a lot of work in the local community around baby loss and bereavement, including working with interpreters to have materials translated into local languages. “We know that lots of the communities we serve include people who don’t speak or read English. By working with interpreters, we aim to increase our reach with our message of support and services.”
Throughout the pandemic, she has kept the service running virtually, and has kept in-person training running for staff too (while adhering to IPC measures of course). And they’ve continued to offer support to staff – both emotional and professional. “In our clinical training, we’re used to saying ‘congratulations, you’ve got a beautiful baby’, not saying ‘I’m sorry’ and delivering devastating, life-changing news. For this reason, I was keen to ensure we kept our training and support for staff up during the pandemic.”
Looking to the future, Sangeeta plans on developing this service further, including the creation of a bespoke bereavement suite at Newham Hospital so that families experiencing loss can do so in an appropriate, comforting, peaceful space.
A huge well done to Sangeeta on winning this award – it’s very well deserved and we’re all so proud of you.