Parental counselling

Our consultants and nurse specialists are available to talk to you, answer any questions you have and offer counselling. We also have a neonatal family care nurse specialist, who can offer more intense support, education, information and improved links with other services involved with your family.

A big part of our role at the unit is prenatal care, and providing information and support. Lots of our referrals come through the fetal medicine department, also based in the Princess Anne Hospital. We work together closely, along with children's cardiac specialties, to care for families with antenatal diagnosed anomalies.

Parent to parent programme

Our parent-to-parent programme, giving parents an opportunity to speak to other parents with similar experiences, has been particularly successful. We try to link you with a family from your area, or as closely as possible.

For more information about our parent to parent link, please call the neonatal surgical family care nurse on

• direct dial (answer phone) 023 8120 8564
• or via the hospital switchboard 023 8077 7222 (ask for bleep 2439).

You can write to:

Neonatal surgical family care nurse
Neonatal unit
Princess Anne Hospital
Coxford Road
Southampton, S016 5YA

Bereavement programme

All parents experiencing bereavement on the unit are comprehensively followed up by the consultant and nurse specialist. We offer parents a follow-up appointment at approximately six weeks after the death. Our nurse specialist can also visit you at home, to discuss thoughts and experiences on the unit with your family. The nurse specialist can also help to put you in touch with the many community support networks involved with bereavement.