Inverness mum urges mandatory support workers to be a legal requirement in Scotland after baby's tragic death
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00:00My name is Daisy McKenzie and I am mum to five boys,
00:03one of which is little Albie who we lost last year aged one.
00:08So I'm trying to raise awareness so that each family,
00:11after losing a baby or young child,
00:14gets the essential practical and emotional support that they need,
00:18as is, in the practical terms, a legal requirement in England just now,
00:21but isn't in Scotland.
00:23Albie was my little boy.
00:25He was just so, so special and so full of smiles
00:29and he was honestly one of the happiest people I've ever met.
00:32He was just a cheeky little kid.
00:42Last April, two weeks after his first birthday,
00:46we sadly lost Albie very suddenly in his sleep.
00:50He wasn't poorly, there was no reason for it
00:53and we eventually found out it was SUDC,
00:56Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood.
00:59Albie, happy birthday to you.
01:05But before we found all that out,
01:07we had the whole process of the ripple of what happens after a baby or a child dies,
01:13which was such a shock to me
01:14because I've never experienced anything like this before.
01:17I was so surprised at the level of police involvement that had to be involved,
01:21which I completely understand,
01:23but it still just made me a bit on edge because he had died at home.
01:27So I was so panicked thinking,
01:28oh my goodness, what's happening?
01:30Is something wrong?
01:31Have I done something wrong?
01:32Even though I knew I hadn't,
01:34just the involvement, regardless of how kind and professional and lovely they were,
01:39just made me so nervous.
01:40And then me and Albie went to the hospital after he had passed away
01:45to get further statements and blood tests on myself and things.
01:50Like there was a lot of procedure
01:52and I just felt like in those first few days,
01:55kind of feel like we were just a little bit left and we were so, so lost.
02:00And I had so many questions and so many worries.
02:04I think there's a lot of charities that do amazing support
02:07after you lose a baby or a child.
02:09But I feel like in those first few days
02:13is when you've got so many questions about practical stuff,
02:16like when does my child come back from his postmortem?
02:19And how on earth do I organise a funeral?
02:21Or, you know, like stuff like that, that you've never thought of before.
02:25And to have someone to ask those questions to,
02:28and to make those phone calls for you so that you're not having to phone round,
02:32asking those difficult things would be incredible.
02:36Also the emotional side of things,
02:39because our point of contact after Albie died was a detective.
02:44And they were so lovely and so, so kind.
02:47But, you know, I couldn't phone a detective and say,
02:49oh, I'm struggling to sleep.
02:50So that's why I feel it's so important and so essential
02:54that for those first few days, or first few weeks even,
02:58after a baby dies or a child dies,
03:00everyone should get that practical and emotional support.
03:04And they shouldn't have to go looking for it.
03:06They shouldn't have to find the support themselves.
03:08It should be provided as a basic service.