NBCP Standards

The National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP) standards have been developed to ensure that all bereaved parents and families receive consistently high-quality, compassionate and personalised care following pregnancy loss or the death of a baby. They are the core part of an evidence-based improvement programme to support the care of parents experiencing a miscarriage, ectopic or molar pregnancy, TOPFA, stillbirth, neonatal death, or SUDI.

These standards provide a holistic framework to improve and standardise bereavement care across all healthcare settings where a family may experience a bereavement. The standards are the guiding principles for driving improvements in bereavement care and aim to ensure all families receive high quality, equitable and compassionate care, no matter where they access support.

The NBCP standards provide a clear framework for improving the care experienced by parents in the event of a stillbirth or neonatal death, as outlined in NHS England’s Medium term Planning Framework (2025).

The standards are structured around three core themes, each addressing a vital aspect of bereavement care. These themes ensure that the standards are comprehensive, person-centred, and applicable across healthcare settings.

Theme 1: Parent-Focused Care
This theme centres on the individual experiences and needs of bereaved parents and families. It emphasises the importance of personalised, compassionate care that respects cultural, emotional, and personal contexts.

Theme 2: Communication and Learning
This theme focuses on clear, sensitive communication and the importance of learning from bereavement experiences to improve care. It ensures that families are informed, supported, and involved in processes that follow the loss.

Theme 3: Staffing
This theme addresses the organisational and professional responsibilities in delivering high-quality bereavement care. It highlights the need for trained, supported staff and appropriate service structures.

Parent-focused care

Standard 1: All bereaved parents and families are provided with personalised care

• A parent-led bereavement care plan is in place for all parents and families, providing continuity between settings and ensuring high-quality bereavement care in any subsequent pregnancies.
• Bereaved parents and families are offered informed choices about decisions relating to their care and the care of their babies.
• Care is tailored to the preferences of bereaved parents and families, taking into account diversity of needs and experiences.

Standard 2: All bereaved parents and families have access to an appropriate, available and accessible bereavement room.

• Bereavement rooms are designed for bereaved parents and families, and their needs and wishes are sought and taken into account.
• Bereavement rooms are available for use by bereaved parents and families and are not used for other purposes.
• Parents and families do not have to go past or hear families with live babies to access the room. Where this is not possible parents and families should be given the choice of using a different exit, or if that is not possible, they should, if they wish, be compassionately accompanied through the shared area rather than being left to walk alone.

Standard 3: All bereaved parents and families are offered opportunities to make memories.

• Appropriate support is given to parents to facilitate memory making.
• Sufficient time and space is provided to allow parents and families to make memories with their babies.
• Protocols and resources for taking babies outside of the hospital are in place, and staff are confident and knowledgeable about supporting parents and families to do so.

Communication and learning

Standard 4: All bereaved parents and families are informed about and, where needed, referred for emotional support and for specialist mental health support.

• To meet this standard, settings should ensure:
• Clear referral pathways for accessing specialist mental health support are available and offered to parents and families.
• Professionals are aware of local support organisations.
• In any subsequent pregnancy, appropriate trauma-informed specialist support is offered to parents and families.

Standard 5: A system is in place to clearly signal to all health care professionals and staff that a parent has experienced a bereavement.

• Paper and electronic documentation provides clear communication about a bereavement and enables joined-up, responsive care.
• Local protocols are in place to inform Primary and Community Care providers and community organisations, and to manage parents’ transition between settings.
• In subsequent pregnancies the experience of a previous bereavement is clearly signalled.

Standard 6: Bereaved parents and families are confident that learning from their baby’s death will take place and are fully informed throughout.

• Parents and families are offered opportunities to be involved in any reviews or investigations into their care and the death of their baby, and are allocated a named key contact.
• Parents and families are provided with timely and clear information about reviews and investigations and are able to make informed choices.
• Trust Boards take action on learning and recommendations from reviews and investigations.

Staffing

Standard 7: Bereaved parents and families receive their care from an appropriately staffed team.

• A Bereavement Lead is in place in every Trust and,
• has sufficient time to support the service to meet the nine bereavement care standards.
• A multidisciplinary team is in place to provide parent-centred bereavement care in every setting across the Trust, including specialist Bereavement Midwives and Neonatal, Palliative and Bereavement Care Nurses.
• An appropriately staffed team is in place to ensure the provision of a 7 days a week bereavement care service.

Standard 8: All staff involved in the care of bereaved parents and families receive the training and resources they need to provide high-quality bereavement care.

• Bereavement care training is mandatory for all staff who come into contact with bereaved parents and families and,
  • is delivered by a specialist bereavement care training provider.
• Staff receive training on induction and annual refresher training and,
  • are able to access this training in working hours,
  • there is specialist bereavement care service delivery training provided for all bereavement leads.
• All staff who speak with parents and families about their post-mortem options must have completed post-mortem consent training.
• Staff have access to up-to-date and relevant bereavement care resources.

Standard 9: Healthcare staff are effectively supported to care for bereaved parents and families.

• Staff wellbeing is prioritised and monitored as a key part of a safe, effective and high quality healthcare service.
• A trauma-informed approach is taken to providing support for staff.
• Workplaces are supportive environments where
  • staff feel valued,
  • have access to wellbeing services and,
  • have opportunities to debrief.

The development of these standards has been informed by extensive consultation with bereaved parents and families, healthcare professionals, and partner organisations . They are grounded in evidence, lived experience, and best practice, and have been reviewed and updated to reflect evolving needs, feedback, and service improvements. The standards reflect a commitment to improving bereavement support across healthcare settings, recognising the profound and unique impact of baby loss on individuals and families.