This week is Baby and Pregnancy Loss Awareness Week – a subject close to too many of our hearts. Ridiculously, miscarriage and baby loss is still often seen as a “taboo” subject and it shouldn’t be. I personally haven’t had to go through the utter tragedy of losing a baby but I so many of my friends have and I know from the sheer number of you that tick “miscarriage” in the box on the prescreening form which I ask you to fill out, I know that this will be a subject close to many of you as well.
Yesterday I had a look at the babyloss-awareness.org website to see what this week is all about from their perspective. Their definition of the week is to “provide the chance for bereaved parents, families and friends to commemorate the loss of their babies lives alongside raising awareness about the issues surrounding pregnancy and baby loss in the UK” and there are so many ways we can support them.
Firstly, the one that EVERYONE can take part in – the Baby Loss Awareness week finishes on Friday 15th October at 7pm, the charity which is a conglomeration of over 40 charities is holding a “Global Wave of Light”. All you need to do is simply light a candle at 7pm and leave it burning for at least 1 hour. This candle is lit to remember all those babies that weren’t with us for long enough and gives you a time to think about your own situation or that of others you know have suffered or are currently going through their own hearbreak. If you want to, post a picture of your candle on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the #WaveOfLight and their hope is to have a huge impact on raising people’s awareness and help to break the silence on what should not be a silent subject.
One other thing which I thought was such a fabulous idea on the website was the Sands Charity who were asking mums to email in to “Tell us about good care?”. They want to raise the standards of care and the only way they can improve is to hear from those who have been through it. About their experiences. They want to know about the times when someone said or did something which helped you after you lost your baby – a few sensitive words or a small gesture, it could be anything which somehow made the most horrendous situation imaginable slightly more bearable. They are asking for your personal stories about your experience from anyone who might have helped you – midwives, friends, families, colleagues, strangers.
Your story needs to be limited to 150 words and then emailed over to [email protected]. For more guidelines please go to www.babyloss-awareness.org/get-involved/#wave-light
Sharing stories about the good things can only improve the help that mums get when they go through losing a baby and that’s surely got to be a good thing?
I know that some of you feel that there wasn’t/isn’t much support out there so I really hope that remembering and commemorating their lives this week and on Friday at 7 will help in some way.
Finally, please remember – it’s ok to not be ok. It’s good to talk and someone is ALWAYS listening. You don’t have to go through things by yourself and it isn’t weak or wrong to need help – we all go through things differently but one thing is for sure – if you’re ever feeling down, please don’t filter your feelings or suffer in silence just ask for help and so many of us will come running. I know I don’t know all of you that well but I’ve always got time for a chat/a coffee/a wine so please give me a shout if you need anything at all.