Meeting of the Parliament 21 December 2016
I thank Alison Johnstone for her speech. I want to make just a few brief comments, as someone who has experienced here in Edinburgh the care that we have been talking about. The experience that my wife and I had at the Simpson centre for reproductive health was exemplary. We were fortunate to have twin girls, who were born at 34 weeks. It came as no surprise that they needed to be born early, but when they were rushed away into special care, the sense of loss and the fear that came with that were great. However, the care that they received, and that we received as a couple, was exemplary. I congratulate the Simpson centre on the support that it has given to many parents, and I congratulate Bliss on its work.
As Alison Johnstone, Kenneth Gibson and others have said, often when children are born prematurely the mother suffers greater postnatal depression. There are many good organisations across Scotland that offer support. Here in the Lothians, Juno perinatal mental health support has been offering volunteer support since 2015 by mothers who have suffered from the condition and have then gone on to support other mothers. Such organisations need to be welcomed and supported.
Clearly the birth of a child is the highlight of most parents’ lives. It is so important to have support and help. As my two colleagues Miles Briggs and Donald Cameron will, I will be writing to the UK Government to ask it to look at the issues that have been raised today. Thank you, Presiding Officer, for fitting me in.