Candice was nominated for an Elaine Thorp Award for Bereavement Care by Hannah who had a termination for medical reasons (TFMR) for her ‘adored and longed for baby girl’ when she was 33 weeks pregnant in January 2022.
Hannah said: “It is hard to know quite where to begin when sharing the ways in which Candice helped me survive the loss of our daughter, other than to say that I cannot begin to imagine how I would have endured the loss and the aftermath without her. She is one of the most special people I have ever met, and that she entered our lives at our darkest moment is something I will be eternally grateful for.”
“Eva arrived at 7.30am on Saturday 15th January 2022. It was Candice’s day off, but she soon arrived to look after Eva and capture the precious memories that I now treasure. My trust for Candice was such that I felt comfortable with Eva leaving us to be dressed, photographed, and to have her handprints, footprints and casts made.”
The Elaine Thorp Award for Bereavement Care aims to recognise the vital work done by midwives, nurses, and other health professionals to care for parents affected by pregnancy loss or the death of their baby.
Candice has been a Maternity Support Worker at The John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford for nearly four years. Her compassion and dedication to providing outstanding care did not end when Hannah left the hospital.
On hearing that she had been nominated Candice said: “To be nominated and shortlisted for a special award is such a privilege, and for the nomination to come from a person in the midst of grief is beyond anything I could imagine. I strive every day to be a role model for bereavement care and to push it forward as a priority of the maternity service.”
Hannah said: “I knew that I was able to contact her when I needed to, something I leaned on in the depths of my grief in the following weeks and months, and even still now. Somehow, Candice always seemed to sense when I was having a particularly tough days, and her emails would land in my inbox like little rays of sunshine.”
Candice said: “I feel completely at one with my job, as if it was made just for me. To be a little bit of light in such darkness that these families are going through is what drives me.”
Hannah and Candice’s journey did not end with Eva’s birth. Three months after Eva was born, Hannah and her husband conceived their precious rainbow baby boy, William. And Candice was there to help Hannah through the anxiety that came with being pregnant after a loss.
Hannah said: “She was with me for all my scans, even those that fell on her days off, and arranged for us to have private rooms to wait in beforehand to help ease the trauma of returning to where we received such bad news about Eva.”
When Hannah went into labour unexpectedly at 34 weeks in the early hours of the morning, Candice came into the hospital especially to be there in the delivery suite.
“Fortunately, our son was born healthy and well, and I cannot describe the joy I feel in knowing that other than my husband and I, the person he met first in this world is the person who knew and cared for his sister best is Candice,” Hannah said.
“Losing Eva devastated our world, but thanks to Candice’s incredible support, we have been able to begin to rebuild our lives, with Eva’s memory at the heart of everything.”
Find out more about the Elaine Thorp Award for Bereavement Care.