Hucknall and Bulwell funeral firm supporting families as it marks Baby Loss Awareness Week

Teresa Spencer is a funeral director at AW Lymn who started out with the company at its Hucknall home ago before moving to its Ruddington home.

She has specialised in funerals for babies since 2000.

She said: “We know that for each and every family we support, it is our sole purpose to make them feel as looked after and cared for as possible during what is the most difficult and traumatic time in their lives.

"That is never more true, or more important, than when I am looking after a family who has lost a baby or a child.

"It’s very difficult – all our baby funerals are very difficult.

“You need to be able to give that little bit of yourself because it’s very important to make sure the families are able to have the right goodbye, and also that it is the way they want to say their goodbye.”

AW Lymn conducts between 20 and 30 funerals for babies every year, with some directly referred from the hospital and others contacting the funeral service directly.

For many families, Teresa is the first port of call and she says planning and conducting the funerals never gets any easier.

She cotinued: “After each funeral, I have to have my quiet time.

"If it ever felt like it was getting any easier, I’d know I was in the wrong job.

“It’s so important to connect with the families.

"The baby is their everything and you are thinking of that child all the time throughout the service.

“We try and make things as easy as we possibly can for the family, for example, we can see the family at any of our funeral homes, or even go out to their home if they wish.

“We don’t want to add any unnecessary hurdles for them.

“When families come to us, they are invited to discuss what they want for their baby’s funeral, with options such as balloons at the funeral, or teddies in the coffin.

“Hospitals give parents and the baby a teddy each, with some families choosing to swap them before the funeral, so the baby is buried with the teddy that has the parents’ scent.”

As well as this, Teresa says chapels can be re-arranged to suit the needs of the bereaved, such as bringing the baby closer to the family.

The firm is marking marking Baby Loss Awareness Week with a display in unity with those who have lost babies and children, which features in the windows of its 27 funeral homes across Nottinghamshire and south Derbyshire, including in Hucknall and Bulwell.

The display includes two lanterns, one pink and one blue, which will be placed in the window and have been put together in collaboration with Forever Stars, an East Midlands charity dedicated to supporting families who've suffered a stillbirth or infant loss.