The Words That Stay With Us: Compassionate Communication in Baby Loss Claims
Based on INNEG’s webinar: Compassionate Communication in Baby Loss Claims
This guide was produced by INNEG and is based on key clinical and lived-experience insights shared during our webinar Compassionate Communication in Baby Loss Claims, led by Katie Monk.
It is intended to support solicitors handling baby loss, birth injury, and clinical negligence claims by highlighting how language and communication can profoundly shape a client’s experience of grief. It does not constitute legal or clinical advice on any individual case.
Access the full eBook here >
Language plays a powerful role in how bereaved parents experience, remember, and process the loss of a baby. As Katie explains, the words used by professionals can either validate grief and build trust, or compound trauma and deepen feelings of isolation. In the context of legal practice - where language is often technical by necessity - this distinction is especially important.
Drawing directly on Katie’s lived experience of baby loss, the eBook explores how seemingly small choices in wording, tone, and phrasing can have lifelong impact. Through real examples, it shows how clinical or detached language can unintentionally cause harm, while compassionate, person-centred communication can help parents feel seen, heard, and respected during an already devastating time.
Written specifically for solicitors, the guide offers practical guidance on asking parents about their language preferences, using a baby’s name where appropriate, and navigating the tension between formal legal terminology and human compassion. It highlights how open-ended questions, active listening, and small acts of care - such as allowing silence or slowing conversations - can transform client relationships and support trust-building in sensitive claims.
This practical, solicitor-focused eBook supports more empathetic client care, helps avoid avoidable distress, and reinforces that compassionate communication is not separate from professional practice - it is a vital part of it. By choosing words carefully, solicitors can do more than progress a claim; they can support dignity, understanding, and healing for families navigating baby loss.
About The Author
Katie Monk
NHS Bereavement Training Facilitator and INNEG Analyst
Katie Monk is a passionate baby loss advocate and educator, delivering bereavement support training to midwives and student midwives across the North West. Since the loss of her daughter, she has worked to improve how families are supported during pregnancy and baby loss - focusing on the power of language, lived experience, and compassionate care.