Baby and infant loss consultancy provides training for professionals working with bereaved families

In response to a growing awareness of the importance of high quality support and care from professionals for parents who suffer the loss of an infant, a specialist consultancy has been launched offering training and support to professionals working with bereaved families.

Bereavement Training International (BTI) provides specialist training designed for all professionals providing care for parents when a baby or child dies, including midwives and student midwives, obstetricians, neonatal, paediatric and gynaecology staff, sonographers, GPs and other primary care providers, health visitors, counsellors and chaplains.

BTI's Principal Paula Abramson is a psychotherapist with many years' experience in providing bereavement support to families and professionals following the death of a baby or child. She says: "It's impossible not to be emotionally affected when a child dies. Too often professionals working with bereaved parents have had little or no specialist training to help them provide support to families and to ensure their own wellbeing."

Paula worked for more than ten years in the NHS, before joining the national charity Child Bereavement UK as Director of Training in 2016. In this role she was responsible for overseeing the provision of training workshops, study days and conferences for approximately 10,000 professionals each year. Paula has consulted on projects such as the National Bereavement Care Pathway, Baby Loss Awareness Week, NHS England Child Death Booklet, and the Pan London Neonatal Complex and Palliative Care Nurse role. She has been a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Baby Loss since its inception in 2016 and is regularly invited as an expert speaker on baby and child death at conferences around the world.