How we began

The Child Bereavement Charity (CBC) was founded in September 1994 by Jenni Thomas. The work of the Charity was then launched and established by Jenni as Director and Julia Samuel as Founder Patron. At the launch of the Charity, in the Royal College of Nursing, we were privileged by the attendance of Diana, Princess of Wales.

The work of the Charity originates from the early 1960's when historically, families were not encouraged to be with their sick babies or children when admitted to hospitals in this country. At that time, a number of people working in hospitals were recognising the negative impact of this practice on children and their parents. Among these was Dr Dermot McCarthy, a consultant paediatrician based at Amersham Hospital in Buckinghamshire.

Dr McCarthy believed that babies and children needed their parents, particularly when they were in an unfamiliar hospital environment. He encouraged staff to help parents to be involved and to stay on the wards, bringing in their own mattresses when necessary. The parents involved at this time were greatly helped and the babies and children made a far quicker recovery, although sadly some children inevitably died. It was these bereaved parents who taught the staff the value of being included in their child's care leading up to their death and afterwards.

Following on from this pioneering approach, a Special Care Baby Unit was built locally at Wycombe General Hospital, under the supportive management of Sister Jean Macdonald, MBE. This unit was specifically designed to accommodate parents along with their sick and dying babies, and to this day continues to provide families with best practice in bereavement care.

The ethos of staff support which underpins all that CBC advocates emanated from the experience of staff working in the South Buckinghamshire NHS Trust where they were valued.