Perinatal Hospice
Palliative Care Program

We offer emotional support to people who have experienced loss during pregnancy, childbirth or shortly after that.

Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice has a robust perinatal program to support families who experience a loss from 20 weeks gestation onward, which includes families who experience loss following the diagnosis of a life-limiting diagnosis during pregnancy or shortly after birth and those where the loss may have been sudden or unexpected.

This unique program offers families emotional support, comfort and assistance during these challenging times, including counselling, emotional support, and planning for end-of-life.

Perinatal Loss Support Group

This program is available to any parent whose infant died after 20 weeks gestation up to the first 28 days of life, including death due to a life-limiting condition, stillbirth, death while in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, pregnancy interruption and induction where a palliative diagnosis existed for the child.

Pregnancy After Loss Support Group (P.A.L.S.)

Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice is committed to providing ongoing grief support to families following the death of their infant. Pregnancy after the loss of a baby is a time when families can benefit from increased emotional support by those who understand that it is possible to simultaneously feel anxious, happy, and sad during subsequent pregnancies. This group is open to pregnant families who have previously accessed Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice services.

 

Symptom Management

Some children’s life-limiting illnesses or side effects from treatments can cause unexpected or distressing symptoms. Our team of nurses and physicians specialized in pediatric symptom management can work with children and their families to help them understand and manage their symptoms.

To learn how to access perinatal services click here.

Baby Charlotte

Mom and dad holding baby in pink shirt with their hands placed on babies head

‘Our stay at Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice wasn’t about dying. It was about living’

Living life to the fullest, no matter how short

The worst possible news

Baby Charlotte’s parents, Anne-Marie and Tommy Warren received the worst possible news shortly following their daughter’s birth. Doctors determined that Charlotte had sustained a devastating brain injury during her birth, with only a small portion of her brain stem remaining, possibly not enough for her to know how to breathe. Broken-hearted, Anne-Marie and Tommy prepared to let their newborn daughter go.

A focus on making memories

The Warren family chose to have Charlotte’s breathing tube removed and to have family pictures taken so they could remember their time with their daughter. After an hour in the garden, her heart rate and breathing were slowing, but Charlotte was still breathing. When she opened her eyes and even started to hiccup, it was clear Charlotte wasn’t ready to go, so her family came to Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice.

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