Campaign makes pregnancy loss tangible: Ypres hospital makes tangible memories

The campaign on pregnancy loss is an initiative of the non-profit organization Kinderwens Expertisenetwerk. To this end, it collaborates with three West Flemish hospitals: AZ Damiaan in Ostend, the OLV of Lourdesziekenhuis in Waregem and Jan Yperman in Ypres.

“Even if you were only a week into your pregnancy or you are three months into your pregnancy: that is a loss experience,” says Mieke Vanhove. 26 years ago she lost one of her two unborn children early in her pregnancy. There was not much attention to her grief at the time. “When Arthur was born, that sadness actually came up. At that time there wasn’t really any external help if there was an interruption of pregnancy. It was like ‘move on, try again’,” says Mieke.

Tangible memories

They pay particular attention to this in the Jan Yperman hospital in Ypres, among others. Social nurses don’t just offer a listening ear. They also assist the parents in making tangible memories. “We try to create tangible memories with the parents about a deceased child as much as possible,” says social nurse Mieke Staelens. “In concrete terms, I mean that we try to take handprints with the treasure chest, which is offered to us by the Berrefonds. That is something tangible for later.” (continue reading below the photo)

Mieke Vanhove herself wrote down her story for her other son, Arthur. “I actually put that in a storage box, in Arthur’s storage box, so that he also knows my story. One day, when the time is right, I will give it to him. It was still early, but they have had some time with two sat in my stomach.”

Two questions

People are often afraid to talk about pregnancy loss, but according to Mieke that is not necessary: ​​”There are two simple questions you can ask someone after a pregnancy interruption. Can I do something for you, can I do something for you. Actually you should do no more than ask those two questions.