We talk often at Tommy’s about the silence and loneliness that still surround pregnancy and baby loss and premature birth.
We know it isn’t easy to share painful experiences that may have a lifelong impact.
Half of all UK adults have been directly affected by baby loss, or know someone who has been - yet the problem remains relatively hidden. How can we encourage everyone to speak more openly about an issue that touches so many lives?
One answer lies with those whose voices reach millions.
When Coleen Rooney spoke candidly on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here about having 2 miscarriages – and about the toll it took on her husband, Wayne – she sparked not only widespread media coverage but conversations about pregnancy loss that might never have happened otherwise.
Her honest words came only a few days after her campmate Oti Mabuse had opened up about the trauma of giving birth prematurely and the ‘hell’ of being unable to take her baby daughter home with her for weeks.
In October, Great British Bake-Off contestant Nelly Ghaffar won viewers’ hearts with the emotional revelation that she had experienced 5 miscarriages – each commemorated by a star within her ‘showstopper’ creation.
Her fellow contestant and eventual series winner Georgie Grasso spoke about losing her daughter to stillbirth at 25 weeks, describing her bereavement and grief as ‘part of me and my journey’.
Each of these women – along with other high-profile figures, including Myleene Klass and Amanda Holden, who have bravely shared their own experiences of baby loss and premature birth over the years - has helped to move the dial.
In a matter of weeks, Coleen, Oti, Nelly and Georgie have shown more powerfully than any set of statistics just how many lives are affected by this issue, notably including dads and partners in their conversations. They’re showing how vital it is that we continue to fund pregnancy research to drive change. This is the only way more families will bring their babies home, and pregnancy will become safe – for everyone.
We're grateful to them, and to everyone who speaks out – whether to one person or an audience they will never meet - to help make baby loss a little less lonely.
