The Whitworth, The University of Manchester

Still Parents: supporting parents who have experienced baby loss

Launched in October 2019 in partnership with Manchester Sands (Stillbirth and Neo Natal Death Charity), Still Parents is the Whitworth’s pioneering programme to support parents who have experienced baby loss. 

Directly drawing on the Whitworth’s collection and under the guidance of professional artists, the monthly workshop programme encourages participants to collectively explore their experience through art and creativity.

The ‘Still Parents: Life After Baby Loss’ exhibition (24 September 2021 to 4 December 2022), the first of its kind, created a platform to share personal stories, open up conversations and break the silence that continues to surround baby loss.

As a constituent-led exhibition, Still Parents was a powerful portrayal of baby loss told collectively by those who have experienced it first-hand. All aspects were informed by the project participants, from curation to interpretation. By using their stories and voices, it personalised baby loss and raised awareness.

The exhibition reflected a wider societal need, as one in four pregnancies ends in loss in the UK. This innovative model of collective, creative provision has enabled a community to be built, offering parents new ways to navigate and express their grief.

With 200,000 visitors, Still Parents succeeded in creating a ‘safe space’ for bereaved families. Recent evaluation showed that nine in ten visitors felt the exhibition had expanded their understanding of baby loss and, as a result, two thirds felt more confident in speaking about it.

So far, 130 bereaved families have been supported through creative workshops and 20 participants have now become new Whitworth volunteers. With personal experience, their presence within the gallery has allowed visitors another outlet to share their stories. Over 200 personal stories of loss were captured within the space and 300 families had their babies’ names honoured through a memory wall.

In April 2022, the exhibition was featured in a BBC global health series exploring miscarriage experiences and care across the world. Regular referrals from Manchester’s NHS Trust alongside the Whitworth’s new ‘Counsellor in Residence’ scheme allow those experiencing bereavement to use the gallery’s spaces rather than the medicalised hospital environment for appointments.

Through new partnerships with Salford and Manchester University midwifery departments and the Midwifery Society, a series of study days took place aimed at student midwives. These study days involved almost 200 student midwives from the University of Manchester and University of Salford who got the opportunity to view the exhibition and hear from project participants. The study days provided crucial access to real life stories, opening up conversations around bereavement care and bereavement practices with people who have been through it first-hand.

In 2023 the Whitworth was awarded funding from the Rayne Foundation to develop a new strand of work called ‘Still Care’ focusing on midwives and other health professionals and their experiences of baby loss. Both Still Parents and Still Care will enable the gallery to become a National Centre for Excellence in Art and Baby Bereavement Care through upskilling the next generation of midwives in bereavement care and in supporting practicing midwives.

In November 2022, Still Parents won the Best Museums Change Lives Project award at the Museums Change Lives Awards 2022.