Child bereavement-what matters to the families. Part 2: The long term.

The death of a child is a devastating event. Families experience profound grief and loss immediately following the death, and this remains and evolves as time progresses. In this, the second in a series, we discuss the importance of longer term bereavement care and how continuing contact with healthcare can be navigated. As bereaved parents who are also doctors, we again share our experiences. The complex nature of parenting, supporting siblings or managing a pregnancy after loss are explored, and we look at the involvement of bereaved parents in developing bereavement services.

Child bereavement-what matters to the families. Part 1: Immediate and short-term communication and care.

The death of a child is a complex and hugely significant time for a family and community. Sophisticated but sensitive management by clinicians can have both short-term and long-term impacts on how families process the death. There is a paucity of guidance for optimal child bereavement care. A description of the child death review process including key legalities is provided here, and other essential aspects such as memory making, cultural aspects and sibling involvement are explored. Useful agencies and resources are also detailed. We, as both clinicians and bereaved parents, can uniquely provide an overview of the logistics of managing such a challenging event and highlight important subtleties in communication. We attempt, using our own experiences, to provide a framework and best inform future practice.