Each year, the 9th-15th October marks Baby Loss Awareness Week, where throughout the week bereaved parents, family members and friends can commemorate the loss of all the babies who were taken too soon, knowing that thousands of other families elsewhere in the world will be doing the same.
Whilst it is widely known that 1 in 4 pregnancies ends in miscarriage, less people are aware of how common stillbirth and neonatal loss is. In the UK, 1 in every 114 babies will be stillborn or die within their first four weeks of life. 6,500 deaths each year.
It is difficult to understand why something which devastates so many families is not spoken about more openly. And so the Baby Loss Awareness Campaign aims to recognise how isolated bereaved parents often feel and allows a crucial opportunity for people to talk openly about the subject and raise awareness of baby loss. Baby Loss Awareness Week ends with the global ‘Wave of Light’ on October 15th. On this day, everyone is invited to light a candle at 7pm to remember all the babies that have died during pregnancy, birth or infancy. Whether done individually or as a group, at home or in a communal space, it gives an opportunity to unite with others across the world in honour of those babies who lit up our lives for such a short time.
Ways to Get Involved
– Join the ‘Wave of Light’ by lighting a candle at 7pm on October 15th, to honour the babies who never got the chance to live.
– Donate to Sands, who support anyone affected by the death of a baby and work to promote research which could reduce the loss of babies’ lives.
– Pledge a donation to Still Loved, a documentary which highlights the devastating reality of baby loss and inspires hope by illustrating the courage and inspiration shown by bereaved parents.
– Become a volunteer for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, who provide the gift of free remembrance photography to parents suffering the loss of a baby.
Those statistics are truly heart breaking, no parent should ever have to go through the passing of their own child and it's something that really scares me for the future. My mum has had multiple miscarriages and I've seen the awful effects it can have on a person with her suffering from bad depression following the miscarriages. Another family member has recently given birth to a gorgeous girl, Caitlin Emileen who was born sleeping which broke everyone's hearts and the family recently held a big fundraising event in aid of the Count the Kicks campaign which was a great success. It's so important to make everyone aware of how common this awful experience is and my thoughts are with you and every other grieving parent and family member x
What Rachael Wrote
I will definitely be lighting a candle on the 15th for our babies and everyone else's. Tomorrow we have to go to meet the Chaplain and choose the music and poems for our babies service. They are decisions no mother and father ever imagine having to do but it does happen so often and not many people realise. I love the fact we are raising awareness, all of us together!
Kerry @ Lived With Love | Mummy, Fashion & Lifestyle Blog
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