Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving Page. Abigail’s footsteps have been a huge support to my friends Keeley and Will whose beautiful baby boy George who was born sleeping at 22 and a half weeks on 3rd March 2022.
Keeley is now unbelievably putting all of her efforts into campaigning for the Miscarriage Leave Bill, drafted by SNP MP Angela Crawley and has vowed “2023 is the year we must change the law” following from her national campaign demanding statutory leave for those who suffer a pregnancy loss under 24 weeks. Under current laws if baby loss occurs after 24 weeks of pregnancy, employees are legally entitled to maternity or paternity leave and pay. Yet if someone suffers a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, it is up to the employer to decide to provide any paid leave. This has meant thousands of women across the UK are having to return to work immediately after suffering such a traumatic incident. The second reading of the bill was stalled back in December and will now be heard on the 24th of March.
Abigail’s footsteps are a baby loss charity providing support and counselling for bereaved parents and families as well as specialist bereavement training for midwives and healthcare professionals. Since 2010, they have worked to improve the way bereaved parents are cared for by hospitals and to better educate midwives on how to care for grieving parents. Sadly, stillbirths and neo-natal deaths occur daily, yet many hospitals are not equipped to deal with the parental care required, they have inadequate facilities and their staff receive little to no bereavement training. By working with medical professionals to understand the issues and seek solutions their charity has helped many families. One of their greatest contributions as a charity has been the creation and funding of the Abi cooling cot which allows parents valuable time to spend with their baby before saying goodbye. These cots are distributed UK wide wherever the need and as funding allows. Two cooling cots have been donated in Georges name, but many hospital across the country are already on the waiting list for such cots to allow parents time with their babies to grieve and say their last goodbyes.
The support Keeley has received from Abigail’s footsteps, has in turn helped support her ongoing campaign for the Miscarriage Leave Bill. Abigail’s footsteps is funded entirely by kind donations and our fundraising activities. There is a lack of baby loss counselling across the country hence why its so important we retain Abigail’s and this service. I wanted to help raise money for them, in memory of George, to help support other families, if you can support us in any way, we would be very grateful.
