Since its official opening in October 2023 Derriford’s Snowdrop Suite has made a massive difference to families who sadly lose a baby through miscarriage, still birth or neonatal death.

The ‘home from home’ facility was made possible by your generous donations of more than £200,000 with some bereaved families raising money in memory of their baby.
One of those parents is Joanne Smith. Her son Fred was born at 22 weeks and died hours later in July 2017. A devastating time for Jo and her husband Colin. Jo said:
“The care I had was absolutely outstanding but, later, when I reflected on my time in hospital and looked at photos, I realised the facilities weren’t great. The bereavement suite back then was just a single bed and I’d just spent a week in a single bed with my husband next to me lying on a camp bed on the floor. Fred was in a cot on a table. I decided I wanted to improve things for other parents who lose a child.”
So began Jo’s fundraising campaign under the banner ‘Forever Fred’ to raise money for our charity; everything from craft fairs to black tie dinners to truck pulls and dog shows. Jo’s determination to keep Fred’s memory alive resulted in more than £11,000 being raised for Snowdrop. However, her mission was not just about raising the funds.

“I wanted the money to be spent on the furnishings and comforts which would help parents at a traumatic time. I also supplied care packs for mums and towels to wash the baby because I had nothing when I went in there. When you lose a child, you’re never prepared for it, you never will be and you’ll never get over it but you want to make those memories because you don’t have very long. I just wanted to make it a home from home which it is. In fact, the Snowdrop Suite is beyond what I could have imagined.”
Kirstie Willis, Bereavement Midwife at University Hospitals Plymouth, says: ”The new suite has been well received by patients and our staff are delighted to be able to offer this facility. Jo has been fantastic. As well as raising thousands, she persuaded local businesses to provide lovely furniture and she was very involved in our decisions about how the place looks. She is so enthusiastic.”

Almost seven years after she lost Fred, Jo’s fundraising for Snowdrop is continuing as are plans to make the suite even more a home from home. The next stage of the project will create an ‘en-suite garden’ outside the parents’ room with plants and a seating area so families can enjoy fresh air and nature without leaving the comfort and privacy of their own space. 

If you want to help us to develop the Snowdrop Suite to continue helping bereaved families, you can get involved either by donating or by fundraising - visit our Snowdrop page by clicking here: /snowdrop-fund

contact us by emailing phcharityteam@nhs.net or give us a call on 01752 430332.