A safe space for parents

The UK charity Antenatal Results and Choices (ARC) started out under a different name. Support after Termination for Fetal Abnormality (SATFA) was founded in 1988 by a group of bereaved parents and concerned health professionals who recognised the practical and emotional needs of women and their partners ending a pregnancy after a prenatal diagnosis were not being met (Kenyon, 1988). SATFA worked hard to raise awareness and improve care in this sensitive area. A decade on, the charity was dealing with all aspects of antenatal screening and diagnosis and needed to reflect this wider scope. Thus, ARC was founded in 1998 (ARC, 2020).

No expectant parent can ever be fully prepared for the news that their baby is not developing as expected, and no-one can take away the difficulty of their situation. But the ARC helpline team has the capacity to ‘be’ with parents experiencing acute distress, which can help contain them. We at the charity see ourselves as complementing and extending the care parents receive from their healthcare team.