Clínica Girona has joined this initiative which aims to mitigate and support families through their grief.
Featured photo: A moment from the reception of the Memory Boxes. From right to left: Montserrat Sargatal, Director of Nursing, Maria Simon, promoter of the “Memory Box” initiative, and Miriam Codina, Nursing Supervisor of Maternity.
The grief over the death of a baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or shortly after birth is still a taboo subject in society. The loss of a baby during the gestational phase (up to 28 weeks), perinatal (from 28 weeks to the first week of life), or neonatal (from birth to 28 days of life) causes great distress for the parents. The “Memory Box” initiative, which Girona Clinic has joined, aims to alleviate and support families through this grief. Maria Simon, Quima Parra, and Laura Preixats have created boxes, differentiated according to when the baby's loss occurs, to support parents and give them the opportunity to keep some mementos, some objects that symbolise and commemorate their baby.
The initiative's objective is to support and help parents say goodbye so that they can face the process of gestational, perinatal, and neonatal grief more positively and healthily. The aim is to provide families with tools to move forward. According to the initiative's creators: “It arose from the need to create memories of their children so as not to leave the hospital with empty arms after their death. It is a way of paying tribute to these babies, regardless of the weeks of gestation or the reasons for death. And also to give visibility to this grief.”.
The project
The “Memory Box” project was born at the beginning of this year, 2020, after this need was identified in hospitals, stemming from the personal initiative “Little Star” by Maria Simon. Four families, who experienced this grief, are the public faces of the initiative and have dozens of volunteers helping them to hand-make the boxes. “Since you leave the hospital with empty arms, this box helps you to have an object that symbolises your baby, giving them existence. This allows you to mourn them,” explain the authors of the initiative.
“La Capsa dels Records” (The Box of Memories) contains various handcrafted materials created by the four families who authored the project and a group of volunteers. Generally speaking, each of these boxes is made up of:
- A hat and a bodysuit that babies can wear during their hospital stay and for their send-off.
- A postcard to include the baby's details (size, weight, first and surnames, date and time of birth), footprint and handprints, an ultrasound scan, and the mother's and baby's hospital wristbands.
- A pot to keep the umbilical cord with the clip.
- A pot for the baby's poo (depending on the baby's age); only in the medium and large box.
- A space inside the box for a photo of the baby or family.
- A test tube with seeds that parents can plant to symbolise their love for their child.
- A candle to honour the baby as a reminder during intimate moments.
- A comfort toy to accompany the baby in their final hours of life, should they have lived.
- A triptych of information about the project and useful resources for grieving families.
