The Milk Bank at the Countess of Chester Hospital has won two national Royal College of Midwives (RCM) awards – a significant achievement that highlights the breadth of impact their award-winning scheme has had across maternity and bereavement care.

After baby loss, many parents still produce milk. This can be painful and feel confusing and isolating. Until recent years, there was no consistent national pathway to support families through this experience, and parents across the country told staff they often felt unprepared and unsure where to turn. NHS staff also said they needed clearer training and guidance to help families at such a difficult time.

The Milk Bank at Chester team, based at the Countess of Chester Hospital, recognised this gap and wanted to offer families more support and reassurance.

They 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 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.

Parents were involved from the beginning. Their experiences shaped the language, training, resources and national guidance now used across the UK. Their honesty helped the Milk Bank at Chester team to understand what families needed most and to build a compassionate, consistent pathway of care now adopted widely across the NHS.

This work earned the team the RCM Educator of the Year Award, recognising the national training programme now used by midwives, nurses, milk banks, universities and charities.

The second award – RCM Multidisciplinary Team of the Year – went to the advisory board for this same initiative, who are also based at the Countess of Chester Hospital. This group brings together midwives, neonatal nurses, bereavement specialists, milk bank staff, researchers, charities and bereaved parents.

Together, they have:

• created the UK’s first national guidelines for lactation and milk donation after baby loss
• developed practical teaching tools for hospitals, universities and milk banks
• supported more than 50 NHS Trusts to adopt and adapt the approach
• brought structure, clarity and care to an area of support families had long needed.

Their joined‑up approach ensures families receive emotional, physical and practical support throughout and after their milk journey – not just at the point of donation. Their work is now helping to shape national policy and raising the standard of bereavement care across the NHS.

Holly, mum to Bodhi, whose experience and voicing that more support was needed inspired this whole initiative, explains: “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 never comprehended that the next act of donating my breast milk (made for Bodhi) – to help other babies live – would be the catalyst for Laura and the Milk Bank at Chester team to develop the first wrap‑around care of its kind for families who walk a similar path of loss as ours.

“It didn’t just stop with aftercare; it went on to help educate people in the medical profession, globally, on how to explain the researched benefits to both donor and recipient families of donor milk to families engulfed by grief, as well as the alternative options available to them so that they feel empowered, informed and not judged of their choice.

“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.”

NHS England North West Regional Chief Midwife, Claire Mathews, said: “These awards are a wonderful recognition of the compassionate, pioneering work happening at the Countess of Chester Hospital. 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.

“Across the North West, we are committed to providing the highest standard of maternity and bereavement care, and this work sets a benchmark we can all learn from. Patients in Chester and throughout our region will continue to benefit from the expertise, kindness and dedication that earned these national awards. I am immensely proud of everyone involved.”

Gill Walton, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), said: “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. Before the initiative began, there was little formal guidance or training for healthcare professionals, leaving many parents unsupported and many staff unsure how to help.

“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.”

Sue Pemberton, Director of Nursing and Quality and Deputy Chief Executive at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are incredibly proud of the Milk Bank team and the Advisory Board for this recognition from the Royal College of Midwives. Their commitment to developing and sharing learning, and to building a programme rooted in compassion, sensitivity and evidence, has been exceptional.

“Their work reflects the very best principles of care – supporting bereaved parents through complex emotions and doing so with dignity, empathy and respect. The difference this work has made to families has been deeply moving, and I am pleased that they have been given this award as a testament to the dedication, skill and generosity of everyone involved.”

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. Special thanks are given to Perinatal Midwife Sara Balmforth from Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, whose compassionate care and collaboration also helped bring the initiative to life.