Paula is a psychotherapist and training facilitator, specialising in providing bereavement support to families and training for professionals, following the death of a baby or child. Paula worked for more than ten years in the NHS, providing support to families and professionals. She was also appointed as bereavement counsellor for the Wandsworth Child Death Overview Panel, the first role of its kind in England.

In 2016 Paula joined the national charity Child Bereavement UK as Director of Training. In this role she was responsible for overseeing the provision of training workshops, study days and conferences for approximately 10,000 professionals each year.

Since 2008 Paula has designed and delivered training workshops for healthcare professionals whose work includes supporting families when a baby or child dies. Her training covers subjects such as the impact on professionals, breaking bad or difficult news, communication skills, theories of grief, memory making, support in the next pregnancy. Learning from families lived experience is always at the heart of Paula’s training.

Recognised as an expert in the area of baby loss, Paula has consulted on projects such as the National Bereavement Care Pathway, Baby Loss Awareness Week, NHS England Child Death Booklet, and the Pan London Neonatal Complex and Palliative Care Nurse role. She has also been a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Baby Loss since its inception in 2016.

In 2020 Paula was invited to join Donna Ockenden’s team as Support Service Lead for the Shrewsbury & Telford NHS Trust Maternity Review

Over the years Paula has contributed to and written papers and articles in journals and text books, and more recently has featured as a guest in podcasts on baby loss. She is an Ambassador for Abigail’s Footsteps, a baby loss charity, providing support to families and professionals, and a trustee for First Touch, the charity supporting the neonatal unit at St. George’s hospital.