Bereavement Care Research

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Aching Arms has three aims. The first is focused on offering support, the second on training and education and the third, in the words of the charity’s constitution, is to:

Support and promote research into baby loss and the methods of alleviating suffering arising from baby loss and to disseminate the results of such research.

Aching Arms’ innovative approach to baby loss has been established through the:

Offer of an Aching Arms bear - given as a gift from one bereaved family to another to let bereaved parents know they are not alone;
Health Professional Training - on how to offer an Aching Arms bear sensitively and gain a greater insight into the experience of parents whose babies have died;
Supporting Arms service - run by bereaved parents who give you the time and space to talk about the loss of your baby and the impact it has had on you;
Be Together Programme - for bereaved families to meet and relax with other bereaved families and friends in a range of indoor and outdoor activities;
Bereavement Workplace Training - structured around Acknowledge, Understand and Support to help bereaved parents return to work.

If Aching Arms is to maintain its innovative approach, it needs to keep up to date on current bereavement research and any potential impact that could have on changing practice in bereavement care and support.

How does Aching Arms do that?

Strengthening - relationships with bereavement care charities in the UK and across the world through the International Stillbirth Alliance.

Informing – providing summaries on:

Research studies supported by Aching Arms:
Existing studies supported by other charities:
Varying approaches to bereavement care in different cultures, faith traditions and countries.

Promoting - by using Aching Arms national and international connections to recommend changes in bereavement care.

Read about the latest Research Studies that Aching Arms is involved with below:

MATREP Survey

MATREP invites parents who have faced the heartbreaking loss of a baby after birth, experienced stillbirth, or encountered a potential brain injury around the time of delivery to participate in a vital research survey.

There’s an opportunity to take part in research and have your voice heard. Together with charities that support families, researchers from Manchester and Oxford Universities have developed a 10-15 minute online survey. It closes on 30th May at midnight.

If your baby died around the time of birth at any time from January 2019 in England, or experienced a potential brain injury around the time of delivery, then please consider sharing your thoughts about your care with researchers.

It is completely anonymous and has been commissioned by the government because the NHS wants to improve care for all families.

The survey focuses on reviews or investigations that take place after a baby dies or is harmed. Even if you are not aware that you have had these, please consider taking part. Your voice matters and can support changes to care.

To help shape future care and find out more please click here.

You can take part in the survey here.

We understand that taking part in research and surveys can sometimes be upsetting and feel emotional, please only take part if you are comfortable in doing so and remember we are here to support you should you want to speak to someone.

You can text our Support Service on 07464 508994 or email support@achingarms.co.uk and arrange a suitable time to call.

More information about Support For You can be found here.

Bereavement midwives in perinatal palliative care

We are supporting University College London (UCL) postgraduate and senior midwife, Leanne Hack with their research, in understanding the role of the bereavement midwife during perinatal palliative care.

They would like to hear from Registered Midwives in the UK who are currently in a Bereavement Midwife role.

The survey takes roughly 10-15 minutes and will be open for responses for up to three months from 11/4/25.

The link to the survey is here, and you can find out more information in the poster here:. RECRUITMENT-POSTER-Midwife Research with UCL.pdf

If you have any questions or would like further information, please feel free to email Leanne Hack at leanne.hack.23@ucl.ac.uk

Black Couple's Experience of Baby Loss

We are supporting Leeds University post graduate, Statsha Lee (Trainee Clinical Psychologist) with their research studying, exploring the experiences of Black couples who go through baby loss in the UK.

They would like to hear from potential couples who meet the following criteria:

Self-identify as, Black, Black British, Black African, Black Caribbean, Black Africian-Caribbean and Mixed-Black heritage.
Couples and birthing people include; same-sex, transgender, non-binary and heterosexual couples.
Experience of baby loss in the UK from the first trimester onwards, including stillbirth and neonatal loss. There is no time limit on when the loss occured.
Ages 18 and over and currently living in the UK.

Please see more information and necessary forms here to find out more and sign up to be involved.

If you are interested in participating and want to find out more, please contact Statsha Lee by email: hs18sds@leeds.ac.uk

Support for people from ethnic minority backgrounds, in pregnancies after loss.

We are supporting Manchester University post graduate, Zoyah Sheikh with their research study, exploring support for people from ethnic minority backgrounds in pregnancies after baby loss.

They would like to hear from parents who are:

Black Africian, Black Caribbean or Pakistani ethnicty.
Are fluent in English, Somali, Urdu or Punjabi
Are over 21 years of age
Currently live in England
Have lost a baby during pregnancy or up to 28 days after birth
Received standard NHS maternity care during the pregnancy or pregnancies where loss was experienced.

Please see the Information Leaflet here for more details.

If you are interested in participating and want to find out more, please contact Zoyah Sheikh by email: zoyah.sheikh@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk