Not Just a Ward, But a Wound Dressed with Empathy

Losing a baby is an indescribable heartache—an experience many mothers endure in silence, often without emotional or psychological support.

In response to this often-overlooked grief, the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals established a dedicated bereavement suite in 2023.

This safe and compassionate space was created to support women facing miscarriages, stillbirths, neonatal deaths, or postnatal depression—providing a much-needed refuge from the surrounding hospital bustle.

Tucked away from the usual activity of maternity wards and emergency rooms, the bereavement suite offers more than just privacy—it offers solace. Unlike typical hospital rooms, it’s not built for clinical care, but for emotional healing.

The facility was launched through a partnership between Parirenyatwa Hospital and Someone Always Listens To-You (SALT) Africa, a local organisation focused on mental health and grief support. It has since become a place of comfort for grieving families navigating unimaginable loss.

For Gracious Katiyo, who lost her baby just before giving birth, the support she received in the bereavement suite was instrumental in her healing.

“After I arrived at the hospital, the doctors informed me the baby had passed away and I needed to be induced. After the stillbirth, I was referred to SALT for counselling. They guided me through the stages of grief and helped me prepare emotionally for the difficult conversations I would face when I returned home,” she shared.

Gracious is one of two women who received maternal bereavement counselling featured in a ZBC News report.

The concept behind the suite was pioneered by Tafadzwa Meki, a counselling psychologist. Her inspiration came from findings during a pilot study conducted at Mbuya Nehanda Maternity Hospital, which revealed the widespread lack of psychosocial support for mothers experiencing perinatal loss.

“We identified a serious gap in care. Unaddressed maternal grief can develop into long-term emotional and psychological distress,” said Meki.

“It’s not just the mothers who suffer—partners and close family members also experience the loss and must be supported too, as they are part of the recovery environment.”

Respinah Kareramombe is another mother who benefited from the suite. After her newborn developed a fatal infection, the emotional strain affected her physically—her milk production stopped entirely.

“Every mother wants to breastfeed and bond with her baby. When I couldn’t, it deepened my trauma. It took three months to recover and for my body to produce milk again,” she recalled.

Though modest in size, the bereavement suite has marked a significant step forward in maternal healthcare. It provides space for grieving families to process their loss in a society where such grief is often invisible or dismissed.

“As a society, we tend to overlook maternal loss because there’s often no shared memory or visible signs of the baby. But for the mother, the bond was already there—it was real,” explained Meki. “In many cases, even the father has felt the baby kick and was emotionally attached. Maternal bereavement affects the whole family.”

Encouraged by its success at Parirenyatwa, conversations are now underway about expanding this model to other hospitals nationwide.

As Zimbabwe works toward achieving Vision 2030—with a focus on inclusive, high-quality healthcare—initiatives like the bereavement suite show how compassion, research, and cultural awareness can transform the healthcare landscape for the better.

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