Empty Arms, Shattered Dreams
Breaking the Silence Surrounding the Aftermath of Pregnancy LossBaby Loss Awareness Week (9 – 15 October 2007) brings together five UK organisations in a campaign to increase public awareness of all forms of pregnancy and neonatal loss and to work towards breaking the taboo of silence surrounding such loss.
The facts:
 More than one in five confirmed pregnancies ends in miscarriage – an estimated 250,000 in the UK each year.
Every day in the UK 17 babies are stillborn or die within their first month of life, almost 6,500 babies dying every year.
Each year in the UK over 32,000 women are admitted to hospital with a suspected ectopic pregnancy. On average, around 5 women each year, still die of the condition.
More than 35,000 women annually in the UK are told, as a result of antenatal screening, there is a risk their unborn child may have a serious abnormality. 2,000 women face the sadness and pain of ending a much wanted pregnancy after the diagnosis of a serious abnormality.
Groups of bereaved parents around the UK will be organising various events as part of the awareness week. The week will culminate on Monday the 15th October with the International Wave of Light when people around the world light candles at 7pm their time in memory of all babies that have died. During the week there will be events across the UK including: Bristol, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield, Southampton, St. Austell, Worthing and Wrexham.
Tragically pregnancy loss happens to too many women and men in the UK and their loss is often compounded by the culture of silence that surrounds all types of pregnancy loss. This prevents them discussing in frank and open terms what is happening to them physically and emotionally. This leaves the parents, their families and friends unprepared to cope with the actual event and its aftermath.
These issues are often not raised for fear of alarming prospective parents, and due to a widespread perception that it is a rather distasteful subject for open discussion. Friends and family, all too often, fail to provide the continuing support the grieving parents need because they are unable to understand that for the parents, the missing baby is exactly that.
Whether the baby lived outside the womb for a short time, or never drew breath – the impact felt by the parents is no less devastating. The holes these babies leave behind in the fabric of their parents’ lives never truly disappear.
Marion Currie, Baby Loss Awareness spokesperson: “So many parents suffer in isolated silence, struggling to come to terms with their anguish and grief and feeling that they have nowhere to turn. These families need to know that they are not alone, and that pregnancy loss is not a taboo subject. Support groups founded and run by parents are available across the UK to help families through the tragedy of losing their baby. We need to make communities aware that help is available and to increase its accessibility.”
The Awareness Week provides an opportunity for all the baby loss support groups to reach as many people as possible; to raise awareness of the services available to families; and to highlight the crucial role that information and support play when a baby dies. Blue and pink ribbon pins will be worn as an acknowledgement. These are available for a small donation, which will support the vital work of these organisations.
On Sunday October 15th, Baby Loss Awareness Day, we would like to invite you to take part in “The Wave of Light”. Simply light a candle at dusk and join us in remembering all our babies lost in pregnancy, during or shortly after birth. This can be done individually or in a group, at home or in a communal space. Wherever
you do this, you will be joining a global wave of light in memory of all the babies that lit up our lives for such a short time.
Baby Loss Awareness ribbon pins are available online from www.babyloss-awareness.org and by post, for a suggested donation of £1 per ribbon pin. Send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Baby Loss Awareness Campaign PO Box 13703, MUSSELBURGH. Midlothian. EH21 6WX. Please make cheques/postal orders (crossed) payable to 'Baby Loss Awareness'. All proceeds will be used to fund future Baby Loss Awareness campaigns; any surplus will be split equally between the five organisations involved.
Organisations Involved:
ARC (Antenatal Results & Choices)
ARC is the only national UK charity that provides non-directive support and information to parents throughout the antenatal testing process, to help parents arrive at the most appropriate decision for them in the context of their family life. ARC aims to provide:
Support and information to parents who have to make decisions during the antenatal testing process
via a national helpline, a national support network, email support groups and our range of literature.
Continuing support – whatever decisions parents take about the future of the pregnancy.
Improvements in professional practice through training, talks and conferences.
In the UK around 700,000 women will become pregnant every year and every one of these will be offered some form of testing. As a result more than 35,000 women will be told that there is a risk that their unborn baby may have a serious abnormality.
Jane Fisher 0207 631 0280
Email info@arc-uk.org
Babyloss.com
Babyloss is an online resource established in 2000 to help anyone affected by the loss of a baby during pregnancy, at birth or shortly afterwards. The website at www.babyloss.com provides 24 hour support in a number of ways:
Information leaflets for parents and health professionals, alongside extensive listings of UK and international support groups, recommended literature and remembrance events.
A dedication area where personal accounts and poetry are submitted for online publication.
Moderated forums that enable bereaved parents to contact and support each other day or night.
Babyloss is proud to continue its founding involvement in the Baby Loss Awareness campaign and to help
the support organisations in the UK maintain their work with bereaved parents and health care professionals.
www.babyloss.com
email charlotte@babyloss.com
The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust
The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust was established in 1998, to raise awareness of ectopic pregnancies amongst women of childbearing age, the medical profession and the general public. The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust aim to:
Provide support and information to couples who have suffered an ectopic pregnancy through their leaflets and via a dedicated helpline and website which includes a moderated message board.
Support research into the underlying causes, treatment and prevention of ectopic pregnancy.
Improve the diagnosis and treatment of ectopic pregnancies through the establishment of Best Practice Guidelines and supporting education and training for health professionals about the condition.
Ectopic pregnancy affects 1 in 80 pregnancies in the UK, with at least 32,000 admissions into hospital every year. An average of five deaths per year are caused by this condition. This figure has not fallen in the past 20 years and the incidence of ectopic pregnancy is rising.
Izzie Oakley 01895 238 025
Email ept@ectopic.org.uk
The Miscarriage Association
Miscarriage can be a very unhappy, frightening and lonely experience. The Miscarriage Association provides support and information to those suffering the effects of pregnancy loss by:
Providing support and information to anyone affected by pregnancy loss by means of a staffed helpline, volunteer telephone contacts, local support groups and a website.
Publishing leaflets, fact-sheets and audiotapes that answer the most frequently asked questions about pregnancy loss.
Running training days for health professionals to promote sensitive practice in caring for patients with pregnancy loss.
More than one in five pregnancies ends in miscarriage — an estimated 250,000 miscarriages in the U.K. each year. While individual reactions to pregnancy loss vary, many women and their partners find their experience deeply distressing and isolating. Emotional support and clear information can make a real difference in helping people cope with the experience of pregnancy loss.
Ruth Bender Atik 01924 200 795
Email ruth@miscarriageassociation.org.uk
Sands Stillbirth & neonatal death charity
Sands, the stillbirth & neonatal death charity supports anyone affected by the death of a baby and promotes research to reduce the loss of babies' lives. Sands has been supporting parents and families whose baby has died for more than 27 years. Today,
Sands supports over 4,000 parents every year and works with health and social care professionals to improve the quality of services provided to bereaved families.
Offers support and information to anyone affected by the death of a baby through a national helpline, a moderated support forum, local Groups, support leaflets and a website.
Works to improve care through its “Guidelines for Health Professionals” and by fundraising for facilities such as a special room within a hospital.
Promotes research into the causes of stillbirths and neonatal deaths and changes in practice that could save more babies’ lives.
In the UK, 17 babies a day are stillborn or die within the first twenty-eight days of life. While Sands has to date concentrated primarily on bereavement support, it is now increasingly using the strong links established with health professionals to focus also on prevention.
Neal Long 0207 436 7940
Email neal.long@uk-sands.org
5 October 2007
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