Ten years on, a quiet corner of Holywells Park in Ipswich continues to speak volumes about love, loss and what might have been.
The Tree of Remembrance, designed by local artist Jeff Abbot, is unlike any other. Crafted from recycled metal, its branches do not bear leaves in the usual sense.
Instead, they hold around 300 small brass leaves — each one carrying the name, date of birth, and a heartfelt message for a baby gone too soon.
For grieving families, the tree has become a place of reflection, connection and comfort, since it was funded and installed by the members of the volunteer Ipswich Hospital Baby Bereavement Group, in 2016.
The group has been supporting parents for more than 20 years and is separate to the maternity services provided by the Trust.
Since 2016 the number of families seeking support has steadily grown. So much so that two additional remembrance trees have now been commissioned and installed, ensuring space for every story, every memory, and every child.
Ali Brett, bereavement midwife at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), who also leads the Ipswich Hospital Baby Bereavement Group, knows many of those stories personally.
The Tree of Remembrance
Ali, who recently marked a decade in her role as ESNEFT bereavement midwife, said: “I have met most of the families who have leaves on the tree, I know the heartbreak they have experienced.”
Over time, the baby bereavement group has grown from offering counselling services and memory-making keepsakes to sibling support days and gentle therapies designed to ease emotional pain.
The Ipswich Hospital Baby Bereavement Group meets on the last Tuesday of every month from 7pm to 9pm, offering support to any family who needs it.
It is led by Ali, along with bereaved mums, Laura Houlden, Kirsten Almond, Leanne Kuszewski and Jodie Bennett-Hines, and bereavement support worker Finny Robb.
Email ipswichbabybereavement@gmail.com for further information.
Meet bereavement midwife Ali Brett:
As ESNEFT bereavement midwife, Ali supports families from early miscarriage through to early neonatal death in the community.
Cherrie Davey and Finny Robb
She listens, answers difficult questions, and walks alongside families during some of the darkest moments of their lives, supported by the highly trained ESNEFT colleagues, including bereavement officers, Cherrie Davey, Alex Lockhart and Finny Robb.
“To be able to take the voice of families, champion their cause, and provide ongoing care and support with my team is a privilege,” she said.
Part of the maternity service offered at Ipswich Hospital is the Rainbow Clinic, which opened in 2019 and offers reassurance, understanding and continuity of care for women and people who are pregnant again after experiencing a baby loss.
“More than half of women who experience baby loss are pregnant again within a year,” Ali explained.
“But they don’t feel the same excitement others might. They feel fear, anxiety and uncertainty.”
Members of Ipswich Hospital Baby Bereavement Group with Ali Brett
“To support couples through that journey and to see them go home with a baby in their arms is the most rewarding part of my role.”
The Rainbow Clinic is supported by Dr Nishi Deole, Fetal Medicine Consultant Obstetrician.
For more details about the maternity service run at ESNEFT, please click here.
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