Fife Health Charity has awarded almost £40,000 to support NHS Fife’s partnership with Held in Our Hearts, which is delivering a compassionate and life-changing service that provides bereavement care to families across Fife who have experienced the devastating loss of a baby.
Following the success of a small grant awarded in 2023/24, Fife Health Charity has committed £39,000 over three years to help Held in Our Hearts (HIOH) expand its Hospital to Home (H2H) service in partnership with NHS Fife’s maternity service. This funding will ensure that bereaved families receive consistent, trauma-informed support from hospital discharge through to long-term recovery.
Held in Our Hearts is a Scottish charity with over 40 years of experience in baby loss counselling and peer support. Their H2H model offers a unique ‘opt-out’ service, meaning families are proactively supported without needing to seek help themselves —a crucial lifeline during an incredibly isolating time.
In 2024/25 alone, around 90 families in Fife experienced the loss of a baby. Held in Our Hearts offers a range of services including peer support, counselling, sibling support, and memory-making activities — all tailored to the unique needs of each family.
NHS Fife’s Director of Midwifery, Aileen Lawrie, welcomed the expansion of the service, saying: “The loss of a baby is heart-breaking and has profound and long-lasting effects on families. Our partnership with Held in Our Hearts helps ensure that, alongside the essential clinical care, families can also access the emotional and psychological support to help them through their journey of grief.
“The services provided by Held in Our Hearts complements NHS services and ensures no family is left to navigate this trauma alone. This funding will help us build a sustainable, integrated support model that meets the needs of bereaved families, both now and in the months and years to come.”
CEO of Held in Our Hearts, Nicola Welsh said: “We are deeply grateful to Fife Health Charity for their generous support, which enables Held In Our Hearts to deliver our vital ‘Hospital to Home’ early intervention service as well as peer support and counselling for bereaved families. This three-year funding supports us in delivering compassionate, specialist pregnancy, baby and infant loss support to the community of Fife — helping families navigate their grief with compassion, and hope and making sure no one is alone after baby loss”.
The successful implementation of the Hospital to Home service in Fife has also seen the project shortlisted in the ‘Outstanding contribution to pregnancy loss & bereavement care’ category of the Royal College of Midwifery’s prestigious annual awards ceremony, which will take place in February 2026.
Fife Health Charity’s support will enable the development of a long-term sustainability plan and ensure equitable access to high-quality bereavement care for all families across the Kingdom.
Director of Fife Health Charity, Mark McGeachie, added: “We are proud to support Held in Our Hearts and our NHS Fife maternity colleagues in their mission to provide compassionate, specialist care to families in Fife during their most vulnerable moments.
“The feedback from families has been deeply moving and demonstrates the importance of providing structured bereavement support. The significant funding Fife Health Charity have awarded reflects our commitment to person-centred care and to bridging the gap between hospital and home for those coping with the grief of baby loss. It is a fantastic example of our commitment as a charity to support partnership approaches and early intervention that lead to better health and wellbeing for people across Fife.
For more information about Held in Our Hearts and the services they provide, visit: www.heldinourhearts.org.uk.
To learn more about the work of the Fife Health Charity and the projects it has helped support, visit: www.nhsfife.org/fifehealthcharity.
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Photo Captions:
Image 1 – (L to R) Mark McGeachie (Director – Fife Health Charity), Nicola Welsh (CEO – Held in Our Hearts), Yvonne Caie (Bereavement Nurse Specialist) and Pamela Higgins (Inpatient Midwifery Manager) - [DOWNLOAD]
Image 2 – (L to R) Mark McGeachie (Director – Fife Health Charity), Pamela Higgins (Inpatient Midwifery Manager), Yvonne Caie (Bereavement Nurse Specialist) and Nicola Welsh (CEO – Held in Our Hearts) - [DOWNLOAD]
Notes to Editors
- Fife Health Charity aims to improve the physical and mental health of the people of Fife, through funding and grants that support projects and initiatives which will benefit the patients, staff and communities supported by NHS Fife. The Charity also gratefully manages all donations received to NHS Fife wards and services and provides grants to benefit patients and staff. In 2024/25, the charity provided over £500k in grants.
- For more information on the Royal College of Midwives Annual Awards, visit: www.rcmawards.com.
