The obvious credentials that we have to talk about pregnancy, infant and child bereavement is that we are twice bereaved parents. Lenny died very shortly after he was born at 40 weeks because he got tangled in his cord during birth and had swallowed meconium. Bhai died at 18 weeks gestation due to placental abruption. Their stories are very different. We certainly understand the grief surrounding the death of a baby.

Mim is a senior research consultant, since 2015 she has worked on a variety of projects for government departments, professional bodies and charities and has distilled complex research findings into actionable insights for policy and practice. She has led on numerous evaluations including one for the General Medical Council. Mim has a wealth of experience conducting rapid evidence assessments (a type of systematic review) which means she is particularly skilled at assessing the quality and therefore reliability of research, as well as communicating it in an accessible way. This means she has the expertise to be able to read and understand medical research relating to pregnancy and communicate what it can tell us, how reliable it is and what questions it might prompt for the clinicians looking after us.

Mim is a registered Social Worker so upholds values including upholding peoples’ rights and promoting their strengths and wellbeing. She has a background in children and families practice, so she has worked with people from a variety of backgrounds at vulnerable times in their lives and understands the value of person-centred, culturally sensitive practice. Mim has studied theories of grief during both her MA in Social Work and MSc in Psychology – she was awarded a distinction for both. Through her professional, academic and personal experiences Mim recognises the value of trauma informed practice, she understands trauma responses and some of the various therapies available to support people who have experienced trauma. Mim holds a BA in Social Policy and Criminology so has an interest in how evidence based policy and practice can be used to improve peoples’ lives.

Roy holds an undergraduate degree in Physiology and Pharmacology, as such, he has an understanding of medical research. He also worked in a hospital for a number of years and has an understanding of the structure of the NHS. On a personal level, Roy thoroughly researched a serious medical condition that Mim was suffering with in her twenties and worked with doctors to explore options for her recovery. Roy advocated for Mim, at this time we didn’t always receive a good level of care so Roy is sadly well acquainted with the complaints processes.

Roy has over a decade of experience teaching Physics at a large secondary school in Sheffield. He also trained teachers and has designed and run adult training courses throughout the region. Roy is an extremely talented training facilitator, he is able to explain complex information to people of differing abilities in an engaging way. He understands theories of learning and how to ensure that learning can be embedded in practice in meaningful ways. Roy is the top adventure guy – he is an experienced climber, mountain biker, cyclist, hill walker so plans and leads all Lenny’s legacy adventures.

Our boys are the reason and motivation behind Lenny’s Legacy. We are passionate about using our knowledge, skills, values and drive to support bereaved parents and provide them with hope. We also want to raise awareness to improve research efforts and reduce the number of babies who die. We believe our academic, professional and personal experiences mean we are uniquely placed to make an impact for bereaved parents and in reducing the numbers of babies who die by influencing policy and practice and empowering parents to ask questions about their care.