Baby Loss Awareness Week at Southport Hospital and Ormskirk Hospital.Lights glow pink and blue

The baby gardens at Southport Hospital and Ormskirk Hospital glowed blue and pink during Baby Loss Awareness Week, thanks to a generous donation from a local lighting firm.

The Week, which took place between 9th October and 15th October, is now in its 19th year, and a wonderful opportunity to bring families together as a community and give anyone touched by pregnancy and baby loss a safe and supportive space to share their experiences and feel that they are not alone.

The baby gardens at Southport Hospital and Ormskirk Hospital are safe, quiet spaces for all visitors but particularly those who have experienced a loss in pregnancy.

Staff at the Trust are on hand to offer their support to families affected, and a special Wave of Light YouTube video has been specially recorded by staff at the Trust, with moving talks from Martin Abrams the Chaplain at Southport & Ormskirk NHS Hospital; Louise Zeniou, Chair of the baby loss charity CRADLE; and others.

Martin Abrams said: “It is always a privilege to offer support to people, even in the most difficult of circumstances.

“The loss of a baby is a horrible experience in any context, and for too long our society tried to ignore the pain of this unique experience.

“I do hope the local wave of light ceremony we have put together, as part of the international events for Baby Loss Awareness Week, brings some hope and comfort.

“We will use the lights for other occasions throughout the year and the link to the ceremony will be on the hospital social media and YouTube ceremony later today.”

The colours of Baby Loss Awareness Week are blue and pink, and the baby loss gardens at Southport Hospital and Ormskirk Hospital were transformed through beautiful lighting kindly donated by local lighting firm IllumiDex UK Ltd.

The firm installed four multi-coloured, remote-controlled LED floodlights, in a donation worth a few hundred pounds. They are remote controlled and are set to blue and pink, but can be changed to other colours to suit any occasion.

IllumiDex developed an impressive reputation locally after they worked for Southport BID to design, create and install the ‘boulevard of light’ on Lord Street in Southport, with 300,000 sparkling LED lights strung through trees along both sides of the mile-long shopping boulevard. The firm also creates lighting and Christmas decorating services in homes, businesses, towns and retail parks.

Its Director Steve Clayton said: “Every year, we want to do something for charity, to help our local community. As our firm grows, we want to do more.

“We have recently donated a £700 prize to help the Community Link Foundation charity, which covers the Southport and West Lancashire area, and we are delighted to support Southport & Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust to commemorate Baby Loss Awareness Week. We were really glad to be able to help them.

“These new lights at the Southport Hospital and Ormskirk Hospital baby gardens will be in place throughout the year.

“They are the very latest kind of new slimline uplights, and can be moved around easily, twisted and turned to different places to give the most impact where it’s needed.

“The colours of the lights this week are set to blue and pink for Baby Awareness Week, but they could be changed to suit any occasion.”

For more details about Baby Loss Awareness Week click: babyloss-awareness.org For more details about CRADLE click: cradlecharity.org For more details about IllumiDex UK Ltd click: illumidex.co.uk