Baby Loss Awareness Week: Breaking the silence

Discussing baby loss is still a taboo subject that many women, birthing people and their partners find difficult to speak about with their family, friends or colleagues. It’s one of the reasons that Baby Loss Awareness Week is so important to help break through that ongoing silence.  

Making space for different types of loss  

One in four people in the UK experience pregnancy or baby loss, but not always in ways you expect.  

This Baby Loss Awareness Week, we want to acknowledge the different ways people experience loss.  

Whist miscarriage may be an obvious first thought, but women who suffer an ectopic pregnancy or who experience a failed round of IVF have also lost a baby.

The loss of the chance to have a child is still mourned in the same way. In 2022, 3,644 women in the UK terminated their pregnancy because their baby had an anomaly that was not compatible with life (TFMR).  

These families can feel overlooked as they made a choice to end their pregnancy, and they often grieve alone. The families we represent and support who have a child with a brain injury are also mourning their ‘lost’ child and the hopes and dreams they had despite their baby still being with them.  

However someone has experienced baby loss, it is important for them to have safe spaces to express their grief and access support.  

Wave of light  

Every year, Baby Loss Awareness week culminates in the international ‘Wave of Light’ to remember little lives lost. At 7pm on Tuesday 15 October 2024 we encourage anyone who has suffered baby loss or knows someone who has, to light a candle and let it burn for one hour.   

For that one hour the world comes together so families can share the grief they often feel so isolated with and remember their much loved lost baby.   

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to take part, whether their loss was last week or 60 years ago. During this period of time there will be a lot of attention on social media and many people post photos or videos of the candles they light. It is important to be aware of this as some people wish to avoid Baby Loss Awareness Week and this should be respected.  

I and many of my colleagues at Leigh Day will be lighting a candle this year – for our own losses, the losses of families we represent and support, and in my case, for all the babies I have delivered whose parents never got to take home. I remember their names and faces more than the hundreds of happy families I have cared for.    

The current statistics tell us that one in every 250 pregnancies end in stillbirth in the UK – a tragic statistic that has increased in recent years. This is when a baby is born after 24 weeks gestation with no signs of life. Eight babies every single day. For every 1,000 babies born alive, three babies will die within 28 days. It’s a concerning trend and we want to help raise awareness of the issues faced by families in the UK, and help those affected access the support they so desperately need. 

Where can you get help?

Leigh Day is proud to support and work with a range of charities who can offer support, including Bliss, Twins Trust and Baby Lifeline.  

Charities that can help and that are supporting Baby Loss Awareness Week: 

• Tommy’s
• ARC - Antenatal Results and Choices (TFMR)
• SANDS
• Kicks Count
• 4Louis
• The Lullaby Trust
• Bliss
• Twins Trust