The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is an independent inquiry set up to examine the UK’s response to and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and learn lessons for the future. Module 3 was set up to look closely at the impact of the pandemic on healthcare, including examining how healthcare systems responded, and the impact on services, patients and healthcare staff.
Bliss and our partner charities worked directly with expectant and new parents throughout the pandemic, supporting them through this difficult period and hearing their most distressing experiences of frontline care. Our collective insight shows that the needs of this group – and of their newborn babies - were not sufficiently prioritised in decision-making around healthcare during the pandemic.
Caroline Lee-Davey, Chief Executive of Bliss said, “Having a baby in neonatal care is overwhelming and distressing for any parent at any time, but the impact of access restrictions on parents during the Covid-19 pandemic put them in an unbearable position. During that period we supported parents who had to face the excruciating circumstances of only one parent being allowed in at a time to see their vulnerable baby in neonatal care, parents being restricted to as little as two hours a day with their baby – and some parents not getting to spend time with their babies in their first weeks of life at all, apart from a few minutes at birth. Many parents also did not receive the bereavement care and support they needed after losing a baby, either during pregnancy or after birth.”
“At the heart of Bliss’ work is the evidence that shows the benefits of parents being partners in their baby’s neonatal care. both to the outcomes of the baby as well as their own mental health. But during the pandemic we saw neonatal services having to apply blanket rules on “visiting” without proper consideration of the particular nature of neonatal services, and the need for very sick or prematurely born babies to have their parents by their side.”
‘’Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Bliss worked tirelessly to reverse restrictions which were treating parents as visitors to their own babies, and supported thousands of parents through our information and support services. As well as reflecting and honouring the experiences of these parents through our evidence, we have also called for lessons to be learned: should services be affected in this way again, keeping babies and parents together must be prioritised.”
The other pregnancy and baby charities who are part of the collective of Core Participants alongside Bliss are: Aching Arms, Baby Lifeline, The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, Group B Strep Support, ICP Support, The Lullaby Trust, Miscarriage Association, NCT, Pelvic Partnership, Tommy’s and Twins Trust.
