Thirty-five NHS workers are taking part in a skydive to raise funds for a maternity bereavement suite.

After being re-arranged three times due to Ccovid-19 restrictions, staff from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn will be taking the plunge on Wednesday, April 21, with the goal of raising £20,000 towards the fund. They will be taking off from Chatteris in Cambridgeshire for the jump.

The Butterfly Suite, which is due to open in the autumn, will provide a dedicated and welcoming place for families who lose their babies during, or shortly after birth and give them the opportunity to create precious memories.

It will provide a self-contained area away from the labour ward, which includes a living area, kitchenette, bedroom, nursery and en-suite.

The skydiving team consists of colleagues of all professions across the trust, including information services manager Ann Deane, who said: “I am lucky enough that none of my family or friends have experienced baby loss, but I can’t imagine for one minute how that would feel.”

“I am doing this jump to provide a comforting environment for all those families who are experience grief and heartache. We can collectively make this very sad experience a little bit more bearable with a purpose-built maternity bereavement suite.”

Another member of the skydiving team Emma Brown said: “As a midwife, I am always inspired by the courage and incredible strength of families who have had a pregnancy loss. I really want to help provide a dedicated bereavement suite to give families a quiet and safe space in these incredibly difficult times.”

“The new bereavement suite will provide families not only with a space to grieve, but a space to make memories with their baby however they choose.”

To donate, you can do so via the JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/qeh-skydivers.

You can also give to the Maternity Bereavement Suite appeal by sending cheques payable to Maternity Bereavement Suite Appeal to Finance Department, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gayton Road, King’s Lynn PE30 4ET.

The EDP has launched a campaign to rebuild the QEH, which has missed out on government funding despite being 10 years past it's originally-intended lifespan with parts of its roof collapsing. You can sign our petition here.