The Milk Bank at the Countess of Chester Hospital has won two national awards for its work helping parents navigating baby loss.

After baby loss, many mothers still produce milk. However, until recent years there was no consistent national pathway to support families through this experience - with parents across the country often feeling unprepared and unsure where to turn.

With NHS staff also needing clearer training and guidance to help families, the Milk Bank at Chester team created Memory Milk Gift - the UK's first full package of aftercare for lactation after baby loss.

Instead of leaving families to navigate this alone, the programme provides gentle conversations, clear information and ongoing emotional and wellbeing support.

Parents can also donate their milk in their baby's memory, keep a small amount as a keepsake, or choose what feels right for them. 

Families who have taken part say donating milk gave them a sense of purpose and a way to honour their baby, turning grief into legacy while knowing their experience mattered.

The team's work has now earned the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Educator of the Year Award, recognising the national training programme now used by midwives, nurses, milk banks, universities and charities.

"Memory Milk addresses an often overlooked and deeply sensitive area of maternity care: supporting parents who experience milk production after the loss of a baby," said Gill Walton, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM).

advertisement

"It is an exceptional example of how compassion, collaboration and education can transform care.

"The initiative and its advisory board have changed practice in a previously neglected area, ensuring bereaved parents are supported with dignity, choice and understanding. These awards are richly deserved." 

Memory Milk Gift has involved parents were from the beginning, with their experiences shaping the language, training, resources and national guidance now used across the UK.

One mother, Holly, who's experience of baby loss inspired the whole initiative, said: "I never thought that the donation of my son Bodhi's milk would inspire such a wonderful and beautiful initiative.

"In the dark of losing him, I fought to find a spark of the light of his life to illuminate the world in honour of him.

"I couldn't be prouder or more positively overwhelmed with everything the team have done, and I find huge comfort in believing that the simple act of a normal person like myself led to this kind of effect in the world."

Memory Milk Gift's advisory board also received an award for the initiative, for helping to shape national policy and raising the standard of bereavement care across the NHS.

The group is made up of midwives, neonatal nurses, bereavement specialists, milk bank staff, researchers, charities and bereaved parents.

advertisement

NHS England North West regional chief midwife, Claire Mathews, said: "The Milk Bank team has transformed how we support families during one of the most difficult experiences imaginable, and their impact is now being felt far beyond Chester.

"What makes this initiative so special is that it was shaped by the very families it serves. By listening to bereaved parents and working alongside them, the team has created something truly meaningful – a pathway of care that offers dignity, choice and understanding at a time when families need it most."

Memory Milk Gift began in Chester. It is now being shared, taught and adopted across the NHS, helping to shape how hospitals support families after baby loss.

It also highlights the wider work of the Milk Bank at Chester, which continues to send lifesaving donor milk across England and to parts of North Wales.